Angered by the sickening regularity of gun violence, students of the Florida school where 17 people were shot dead last Wednesday will march on Washington next month to demand urgent political action, beginning with the enactment of stricter gun control laws.
The students also outlined a “Badge of Shame” plan to denounce politicians who accept campaign money
from the powerful gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“We are going to be marching together as students, begging for our lives,” Cameron Kasky, one of the survivors of the Florida shooting, told ABC News. “This has happened before and change hasn’t come. This is it.”
“This isn’t about the GOP. This isn’t about the Democrats. This is about the adults.
We feel neglected and at this point, you’re either with us or against us,” said Kasky and a group of students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, outlining their “March of Our lives” rally, to be held on March 24.
Commenting that President Donald Trump, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Scott all have NRA support, another student, Emma Gonzalez, said that students “want to give them the opportunity to be on the right side of this”.
The White House, meanwhile, announced that President Trump will host a “listening session” with students and teachers on Wednesday, followed by a similar event the next day with State and local officials to discuss school safety.
“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system (for gun purchases),” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Monday.
Sanders said Trump has also spoken with senior Republican Senator John Cornyn about a bipartisan bill he introduced along with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy to improve federal compliance with criminal background check legislation.
Although a host of US lawmakers, predominantly Democrats, have for years been calling for stiffer background checks of gun buyers, Congress collectively has not taken any significant to stop the sale of assault weapons.
Senator Bernie Sanders told NBC News that loopholes in the current gun laws allow 40 per cent of guns sold in the US to proceed without background checks.
But the background checks as they exist right now are not good enough, gun control activists say, pointing out that Florida shooter Nikolas Cruz bought his semi-automatic AR-15 rifle legally after such a background check.
Amid the ongoing political blame game, Trump on Sunday attacked the Democrats for not acting decisively on gun control when they held control over the White House and both chambers of Congress.
“Just like they don’t want to solve the DACA problem, why didn’t the Democrats pass gun control legislation when they had both the House & Senate during the Obama Administration. Because they didn’t want to, and now they just talk!” Trump tweeted.