A faction of Newtown citizens teamed up with thousands of Washington DC residents rallying in support of stricter gun-control measures on the Mall Saturday. The Newtown residents are hopeful that their grouping with the DC demonstrators will add impetus to legislative efforts aimed at enacting stricter gun-control laws.

The demonstrators marched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, a majority of them telling that they are first-time capital protestors who have had enough of gun-related hostilities. The protestors held a large blue banner with “March on Washington for Gun Control: When we stand together, we stand a chance” written on it.

According to reports, speakers at the rally pushed the participants to lobby politicians to support tougher gun-control measures.

“We’re living in the middle of a crisis,” said Dave Ackert, a father of two from Newtown who helped organize the group, which included others from the state, according to the Washington Post. “Many, many people want to take action. Newtown wants to be remembered as a tipping point for positive change to reduce gun violence.”

Standing next to legal experts and Hollywood stars such as Kathleen Turner, the demonstration organizers voiced their support for President Barack Obama’s proposal for a prohibition on military-style attack guns, high-capacity magazines and wider background checks on firearm purchasers.

The rally was the first key protest since the Newtown school rampage the previous month. The protest comes two days after Senator Dianne Feinstein came up with a bill that proposes lawmakers to prohibit some assault rifles, high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic weapons.

Twenty children and six adults were killed inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the previous month. The shooter, identified by police as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, also killed his mother and himself.

Having strong ties with House Republicans, the National Rifle Association (NRA), however, opposes any move aimed at introducing tougher gun-control laws. NRA officials think that more weapons in the hands of the right people is the key to decreasing gun rampages.

“A small opposing demonstration was held across the street from the gun control advocates’ staging area near the Capitol. One gun rights advocate said he thinks people in schools should be armed — a viewpoint he developed after the Newtown shooting,” according to CNN.