The National Rifle Association has banned its members from carrying their firearms during its annual forum while US President Donald Trump and his deputy Mike Pence are in attendance.

Thousands of students across the US are joining in a National School Walkout today on the one month anniversary of the mass shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people.

Florida lawmakers have passed laws that include new restrictions on rifle sales and a programme to arm some teachers, sending the measure to the state's governor for his signature.

Worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles have drunk holy wine and exchanged wedding vows in a commitment ceremony at a Pennsylvania-based church.

Classes have resumed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since 17 students and teachers were killed by an expelled classmate with an AR-15 rifle, thrusting pupils into the centre of America's gun debate.

Oprah Winfrey has nothing but praise for the Florida school shooting survivors who have channelled angst into activism, calling them "warriors of the light" and comparing them to civil rights pioneers.

After the news broke, Judson immediately headed to the airport to try and catch a flight home to be with her family in Florida.

Parents, teachers and students affected by school shootings over the past two decades have met President Donald Trump as the White House sought to show resolve against gun violence.

Survivors of the Florida school shooting have descended on the state legislature to deliver one overarching message on gun control: It is time for action.

"But if us students have learned anything, it's that if you don't study, you will fail. And in this case, if you actively do nothing, people continually end up dead."

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime.

"It doesn't seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools."