Less than a week after an ex-student entered a Florida high school and shot and killed 17, Florida lawmakers have delivered a shocking message to teens and others who have since called for gun reform: LEAVE OUR GUNS ALONE!
Current Events
On Tuesday as tearful shooting survivors looked on, the Florida state House voted against a ban on most semiautomatic guns and large capacity magazines. In fact and in a twisted turn of irony, the Florida lawmakers opened their session with a prayer for the 17 people killed last Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Then they swiftly voted 71-36 to not even entertain the discussion of making changes to existing state gun laws.
Students inside the chamber who miraculously survived the shooting only 6 days ago were visibly stunned at the brash and overt lack of value toward their lives.
“It was just so heartbreaking to see how many (voters’) names were up there, especially after it was my school,” 16-year-old junior Sheryl Acquaroli said through tears. “It seemed almost heartless how they immediately pushed the button to say no.”
She added that the next person killed by an AR-15 rifle like the one used at her school will be the fault of the 71 people who voted NO on Tuesday.
“They had a chance to stop it today. If there is another mass shooting (in Florida) it’s going to be their fault.”
Spencer Blum said he felt as if lawmakers had zero interest in him and the other survivors of the shooting.
“That’s unacceptable,” he said of the vote, adding “It shows that they don’t care about us.”
Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando, who helped co-sponsor the bill, took his anger out on social media by tweeting: “17 pp in Parkland were just murdered w/an AR-15, + the FL House just passed @RossSpano’s HR 157 declaring PORN as a public health risk. No, GUN VIOLENCE is a public health crisis + Spano blocked HB 219 banning assault weapons in his committee for 2 yrs.”
Rep. Kionne McGhee of Miami, the ranking Democrat on the Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee, begged fellow Florida lawmakers to actively address the issue of gun reform and to keep the memory of those killed alive. However, once it was clear House members valued their guns over the lives of their children, Rep. McGhee acknowledged that the bill was effectively dead.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who is already feeling pressure from voters, announced that he hopes to come up with some sort of compromise by Friday.
“My goal is to come up with something that is going to move the needle and make parents feel more comfortable that their kid’s going to go to a safe school,” he said. “That’s the goal. These kids have got to go to safe schools.”
“If they are unwilling to compromise with me or at least hear where I’m coming from, hear what I have to say, hear what we care about as the people that they’re supposed to be representing, I’m going to write down the lawmakers’ names. And then after I’m finished doing that, I’m going to say ‘Great. I’m not going to be voting for you in this upcoming midterm election.’ And I’m 18 years old, I have the right to vote. And I will be telling everyone I know … not to vote for this person, and they’ll be out of a job. I’m sure of it.” – Julia Bishop, 18, student
Current Events
Unifying under the rallying cry #NeverAgain, dozens of students and staff who survived the Florida school massacre have made it their mission to put an end to mass shootings and to finally reform America’s gun laws.
“We’re fighting for the friends we lost. We’re fighting for the future kids that we’re going to have, and that’s why we’re marching and that’s why we’re here talking to our senators and our representatives,” student Sofie Whitney told a crowd of supporters before traveling to petition Florida lawmakers.
Her sentiments were echoed by 18-year-old senior Diego Pfeiffer, who said: “This isn’t about school shootings, and this isn’t about … violence anymore, this is about hope. This is about moving forward with everybody. This is about you guys. This is about everybody here making a difference.”
CNN will hold a town hall with the classmates and parents of the Florida school shooting victims. “Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action” will air live at 9pm tonight.
Watching young people come face-to-face with the harsher realities of *Life* -no matter the generation one belongs to – can be heartbreaking. But these young people must try to understand that THIS will NOT be a quick and easy fight. Not by any stretch of their imagination.
The stand they’re taking is a challenging one. This “Movement” they’re leading has only just begun. And they are up against Goliath. An evil and wretched son-of-a-gun!
Are they prepared to STAND United? And GO the distance?
We. Shall. See.