Marches against gun violence planned for Saturday in Huntington and Laguna

As an estimated 500,000 demonstrators prepare to march in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to protest gun violence, rallies also are scheduled in Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach to coincide with it.

The March for Our Lives, which organizers say has prompted more than 800 other planned demonstrations worldwide, was scheduled soon after the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people. The march is intended to demand congressional action to stem gun violence and improve school safety.

It also follows a series of nationwide student walkouts March 14 to honor the Parkland victims and urge further gun controls.

The local rallies Saturday will begin at 10 a.m., according to the March for Our Lives website.

Marchers in Huntington Beach plan to walk from Lake Park at 1035 11th St. to City Hall at 2000 Main St.

The Laguna Beach event is set for Main Beach at 107 S. Coast Hwy.

Other rallies in Orange County are planned in Santa Ana, Irvine, Brea, Fullerton and San Clemente, according to the website.

The marches will be the same day the Crossroads of the West Gun Show begins its two-day run at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. The show offers visitors the chance to buy guns, ammunition and accessories as well as peruse collections of antique and military-style firearms.

It’s the second time recently that the show, which is held multiple times a year at the fairgrounds, has had its scheduled opening come soon after a mass shooting. In October, it was held the weekend after the massacre at a Las Vegas music festival that killed 58 people and wounded hundreds.

Gun show officials reported business as usual at the October event.

Crossroads of the West, which produces more than 60 gun shows annually in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada, said in a statement this week that “there is absolutely no connection between the Orange County gun show, lawful gun owners and the terrible tragedy that occurred in Parkland, Fla.”

Crossroads’ chief executive, Bob Templeton, said in October that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department typically staff the show as a safety precaution and to make sure all sales are aboveboard. He added that the event complies with all California gun laws.

Protesters attended the Crossroads show in Del Mar last weekend, denouncing the show and calling on the board of the Del Mar fairgrounds to stop hosting such events.

UPDATES:

3:55 p.m.: This article was updated with information about the Crossroads of the West Gun Show scheduled for this weekend in Costa Mesa.

This article was originally published at 12:35 p.m.