The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut has sparked a national call for action. Thousands marched on Washington on Saturday to push for a ban on assault weapons and universal background checks for gun purchases. In New Jersey, more than a hundred people joined the fray.

Freezing temperatures and a coating of snow didn’t keep protesters from gathering in Jersey City’s Lincoln Park, holding up signs like, “Halt the assault; we are better than this" and “We need a GPS on who has what gun.”

Karen Puttre says the shooting may have happened in Connecticut, but it’s affecting her kids in Randolph, New Jersey. 

“My kids are locked in their classroom. Where are our rights? You know, we have rights, too, as parents, as citizens. You know, our children have rights.”

Rally organizers will testify in Trenton this week as senate committees meet to discuss new laws that would tighten the state’s already tough stance on guns. They say it’s all they can do to keep from holding their breath until their children come home from school safely.