More than 400 Free State High School students walked out of classes Wednesday morning in protest of gun violence in schools, including the mass shooting exactly one week ago at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. We’re going to come up with solutions.
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On Wednesday, the Parkland students – still mourning and fueled by anger – made their way to the state capitol in Tallahassee to confront lawmakers to demand a ban on assault weapons.
Actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal, a human rights attorney, said they are donating $500,000 to help pay for it, and media mogul Oprah Winfrey said she would match their contribution. We know what we want. “Guns have great usages for self-defense, so we don’t have to totally rely on the government”.
According to CBS News, the passion on the gun issue among the students who boarded buses to the state capital “is palpable”.
Diego Pfeiffer, a senior at the high school, was realistic about achieving changes in the law before the Legislature goes home March 9, but he said anything is a good first step.
Students in many other cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., also staged walkouts on Wednesday to show support for those from Stoneman.
Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, had a history of troubling behavior and a person close to him warned the Federal Bureau of Investigation five weeks before the shooting that he was a threat – but no action was taken. In Spartanburg County, South Carolina, a ninth-grader allegedly posted a photo of himself on Snapchat wearing a mask and showing an assault rifle with the words “round 2 of Florida tomorrow.” “But we can not protect our guns before we protect our children”. “We are coming after every single one of you and demanding that you take action”.
Trump says he wants to hear suggestions for addressing gun violence in schools, saying, “After I listen we’re going to get things done”. “But we can not protect our guns before we protect our children”, the 17-year-old said. “Whether it’s funding or mental health or gun safety or any of that sort of stuff – I am pro any of that”. The details are sketchy as of now, but students and activists plan to march on Washington, D.C., and other US cities on that day.
“That’s an issue that we’re reviewing”, Florida Senate President Joe Negron responded when queried about the devastating weapon.
Teachers have also said they are anxious to return to the school, Runcie said. The school was put on lockdown, and the student was detained and faces expulsion, authorities said.
“I lost my best friend”.
The meeting comes a day after he backed a move to ban devices that can enable rifles to shoot hundreds of rounds a minute. 17 people are dead. The bill (SB 1048) was ready for a final vote in the chamber.
For the US, 2017 was considered the deadliest year for mass shootings in more than a decade.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful gun rights lobby group, announced it would participate in a town hall meeting.
He spent much of his time defending some of his previous votes, including for a bill past year to require states to accept concealed-carry permits from other, less-regulated states and another for a bill rolling back an Obama administration rule confiscating guns from people judged not competent enough to manage their Social Security benefits.
The copycat phenomenon may be more acute in the United States because guns are more accessible. This gave rise to the famous “gun in every closet” phrase pro-gun lobbyists in the USA and elsewhere used to tout Switzerland’s liberal arms law. That’s a concern to Uhler, who plans on entering college next fall.
Some Republicans have signaled, though, that they could be willing to consider lesser measures, including raising the legal age for assault rifle purchases to 21 as well as the institution of a three-day waiting period and changes to the background check process. “If all of a sudden you couldn’t buy an AR-15, what would you lose?”
Individual states can also use their own laws to regulate the use of firearms by providing further restrictions or making them more lenient.
While the students were en route to Tallahassee, the Florida House of Representatives voted against moving a bill banning assault weapons from committee to the floor for a vote.
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Lawmakers will probably say that getting a new bill passed is almost impossible with only two and a half weeks left in the legislative session.
