Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of two mass shootings.

Those taking part in the hundreds of marches carried slogans like “I want freedom from getting shot”.

US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to “pass common-sense gun safety legislation”.

Despite this, the chances of legal change are likely to be quashed by Republicans.

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

That attack, and another day earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US.

On Saturday, the gun safety group March For Our Lives – founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida – said some 450 rallies would be held across the country, including Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The group said it would not let politicians “sit back” as people continue to die.

March For Our Lives (MFOL) said political leaders’ inaction was killing Americans.

“We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die,” Trevon Bosley, an MFOL board member, said in a statement.

Speaking to protesters in Washington DC, one of the survivors of the Parkland shooting, David Hogg, said the killings of children in Uvalde “should fill us with rage and demands for change, not endless debate, but demands for change, now.”

Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother was killed in the racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York on 14 May, told crowds in Washington: “We are here to demand justice.

“We are here to stand with those who are bold enough to demand sensible gun legislation.”

Among other policies, MFOL has called for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns, and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon