(Video: AFP)

Activists placed 7000 pairs of empty shoes in front of the US Congress in a protest against the number of children killed in gun violence on Tuesday. The shoes honor the 7000 students who have died in in shootings since the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012 in Connecticut.

In another symbolic move, tens of thousands of American students will stage a school walkout in a politically charged tribute to the victims, one month to the day after a 19-year-old shooter unleashed a hail of gunfire at a Florida high school.

The "National School Walkout" slated to begin Wednesday at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) will last 17 minutes -- one for each victim shot dead during the Valentine's Day massacre in Parkland.