Thousands of people attended the March for Our Lives events in dozens of Bay Area cities yesterday, calling for an end to gun violence.

Large marches took place in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, with smaller marches in other cities including Burlingame, Pacifica, San Mateo, Redwood City, Alameda, Richmond, San Leandro, Napa, Novato, Santa Rosa, Walnut Creek and Sonoma.

"For me personally being able to uplift this finally and really begin to start having this conversation about gun reform is essential, especially in a place like Oakland," said Ivan Garcia, 15, who helped organize the Oakland march where crowds swarmed streets downtown.

People of all ages showed up in downtown San Jose too, but it was young people who led the march, walking through rain and calling for action instead of more thoughts and prayers. They asked for bans on semi-automatic and assault rifles and pushed for better mental healthcare and improved background checks.

Asmara Farah, 13, was among the youngest speakers. She says after many shootings, Parkland was the breaking point.

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"Right now the kids are getting politically active because we’re tired. We’re sick and tired of the joke that they’re playing in Washington," Farah said.

In San Francisco, volunteers staffed tables at Civic Center to register marchers to vote.

"I think that this is an important moment for folks who are not registered and for high school students to even pre-register to continue their civic engagement," said Alison Goh, one of the volunteers.