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| Florida School Shooting Survivors Take Gun Control Message on the Road | Florida School Shooting Survivors Take Gun Control Message on the Road |
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| CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Grief and rage over one of the deadliest school shootings in modern American history have forced some lawmakers to begin to rethink their positions on gun control, and a powerful chorus of teenage voices is pushing those in Florida to limit access to semiautomatic rifles. | CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Grief and rage over one of the deadliest school shootings in modern American history have forced some lawmakers to begin to rethink their positions on gun control, and a powerful chorus of teenage voices is pushing those in Florida to limit access to semiautomatic rifles. |
| Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed last week, are traveling on Tuesday to Tallahassee, the state capital, to call for a ban on assault rifles. The direct appeal to the Legislature follows protests outside schools, social media appeals and national television appearances. | Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed last week, are traveling on Tuesday to Tallahassee, the state capital, to call for a ban on assault rifles. The direct appeal to the Legislature follows protests outside schools, social media appeals and national television appearances. |
| • Assault rifles have become a particular target of the latest gun-control campaign. The police say the suspect in Wednesday’s massacre, Nikolas Cruz, was able to kill 17 people in just six minutes by wielding a semiautomatic weapon, an AR-15-style rifle. | • Assault rifles have become a particular target of the latest gun-control campaign. The police say the suspect in Wednesday’s massacre, Nikolas Cruz, was able to kill 17 people in just six minutes by wielding a semiautomatic weapon, an AR-15-style rifle. |
| • President Trump on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to propose regulations to ban so-called bump stocks, which can convert a semiautomatic gun into an automatic weapon like the one used last year in the massacre of concertgoers in Las Vegas. Read more here. | |
| • The Miami Herald reported that legislators in both the Florida House and Senate are drafting legislation to limit access to semiautomatic rifles, after years of reluctance. The plan would bar people under 21 from possession of an assault rifle, and would require buyers to wait three days before purchasing any kind of rifle. | • The Miami Herald reported that legislators in both the Florida House and Senate are drafting legislation to limit access to semiautomatic rifles, after years of reluctance. The plan would bar people under 21 from possession of an assault rifle, and would require buyers to wait three days before purchasing any kind of rifle. |
| • A Washington Post/ABC News opinion poll released on Tuesday showed that 77 percent of Americans believe the Republican-controlled Congress is not doing enough to prevent mass shootings, with 62 percent saying President Trump has not done enough on that front. | • A Washington Post/ABC News opinion poll released on Tuesday showed that 77 percent of Americans believe the Republican-controlled Congress is not doing enough to prevent mass shootings, with 62 percent saying President Trump has not done enough on that front. |
| • On Monday, the White House indicated that Mr. Trump was open to supporting a bipartisan effort to revise federal background checks for prospective gun buyers. | • On Monday, the White House indicated that Mr. Trump was open to supporting a bipartisan effort to revise federal background checks for prospective gun buyers. |
| • In Florida, an AR-15 is easier to buy than a handgun. Read more on how the AR-15 became one of the weapons of choice for mass killers, and the research that tries to explain the high rate of mass shootings in the United States. | • In Florida, an AR-15 is easier to buy than a handgun. Read more on how the AR-15 became one of the weapons of choice for mass killers, and the research that tries to explain the high rate of mass shootings in the United States. |
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| Buoyed by viral tweets and media interviews, several Stoneman Douglas High students who survived the attack have been vocal about wanting change since the shooting. Their message: We’ve been there. Listen to us. | Buoyed by viral tweets and media interviews, several Stoneman Douglas High students who survived the attack have been vocal about wanting change since the shooting. Their message: We’ve been there. Listen to us. |
| At first, the students gained notice for their raw, emotional reactions in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The emotion hasn’t receded, but efforts to channel their grief into legislative change — like 18-year-old Emma González’s appeal for gun laws — have been widely praised. | At first, the students gained notice for their raw, emotional reactions in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The emotion hasn’t receded, but efforts to channel their grief into legislative change — like 18-year-old Emma González’s appeal for gun laws — have been widely praised. |
| On Tuesday, teenagers from the school, gripping pillows and sleeping bags and carrying doughnuts and candy, packed a grocery store parking lot in Coral Springs, Fla., to begin the more than 400-mile journey to Tallahassee. | On Tuesday, teenagers from the school, gripping pillows and sleeping bags and carrying doughnuts and candy, packed a grocery store parking lot in Coral Springs, Fla., to begin the more than 400-mile journey to Tallahassee. |
| Their goal: convincing lawmakers to pass a slate of gun control bills in a state that has been among the friendliest to firearm owners in the nation. | Their goal: convincing lawmakers to pass a slate of gun control bills in a state that has been among the friendliest to firearm owners in the nation. |
| Many had come straight from the funeral of one of the dead. They hugged their parents goodbye and loaded backpacks into the bellies of three buses. Dozens climbed aboard. | Many had come straight from the funeral of one of the dead. They hugged their parents goodbye and loaded backpacks into the bellies of three buses. Dozens climbed aboard. |
| On bus two, Julia Bishop and Daniel Bishop, best friends and siblings, sat side-by-side. They are 18 and 16. | On bus two, Julia Bishop and Daniel Bishop, best friends and siblings, sat side-by-side. They are 18 and 16. |
| “This shooting is different from the other ones,” Mr. Bishop said. “Sandy Hook, they were elementary school kids who couldn’t stand up for themselves; Virginia Tech was 2007, a different time. But this one, I just have a gut feeling — something is going to change.” | “This shooting is different from the other ones,” Mr. Bishop said. “Sandy Hook, they were elementary school kids who couldn’t stand up for themselves; Virginia Tech was 2007, a different time. But this one, I just have a gut feeling — something is going to change.” |
| Dozens of students from West Boca Raton High School began marching south toward Stoneman Douglas High on Tuesday in a spontaneous show of support. | Dozens of students from West Boca Raton High School began marching south toward Stoneman Douglas High on Tuesday in a spontaneous show of support. |
| The students had first gathered in the courtyard of their school for a peaceful protest — 17 minutes of silence for the 17 victims — but then someone opened a door and walked out, and others followed, a videotape of the scene aired by WPTV showed. | The students had first gathered in the courtyard of their school for a peaceful protest — 17 minutes of silence for the 17 victims — but then someone opened a door and walked out, and others followed, a videotape of the scene aired by WPTV showed. |
| “Everybody started walking,” one student told the news channel. “It felt like half the school was walking.” | “Everybody started walking,” one student told the news channel. “It felt like half the school was walking.” |
| As the students walked south on U.S. Highway 441, sheriff’s deputies lined the road to direct traffic and keep them safe, but did not interfere. The distance between the two schools is about 10 miles. | As the students walked south on U.S. Highway 441, sheriff’s deputies lined the road to direct traffic and keep them safe, but did not interfere. The distance between the two schools is about 10 miles. |
| The march from Boca Raton surprised Broward County officials, who said they had heard nothing about the protest. Todd DeAngelis, a spokesman for the city of Parkland, said the authorities abruptly assembled an escort by law enforcement and organized water stations on a day when the temperature was in the low 80s. | The march from Boca Raton surprised Broward County officials, who said they had heard nothing about the protest. Todd DeAngelis, a spokesman for the city of Parkland, said the authorities abruptly assembled an escort by law enforcement and organized water stations on a day when the temperature was in the low 80s. |
| Gov. Rick Scott of Florida announced that Florida National Guard members would be attending funeral services for the Stoneman Douglas High victims, and paying their respects to the three J.R.O.T.C. members who were killed: Cadet Peter Wang, Cadet Martin Duqe and Cadet Alaina Petty. | Gov. Rick Scott of Florida announced that Florida National Guard members would be attending funeral services for the Stoneman Douglas High victims, and paying their respects to the three J.R.O.T.C. members who were killed: Cadet Peter Wang, Cadet Martin Duqe and Cadet Alaina Petty. |
| Mr. Cruz, the suspect, had been a member of his school’s Army Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, and had “excelled” in air rifle marksmanship contests with other schools in the area in a program that was supported by a grant from the National Rifle Association Foundation, according to The Associated Press. He was wearing his maroon J.R.O.T.C. emblem polo shirt when he was arrested after the shooting, The A.P. reported. | Mr. Cruz, the suspect, had been a member of his school’s Army Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, and had “excelled” in air rifle marksmanship contests with other schools in the area in a program that was supported by a grant from the National Rifle Association Foundation, according to The Associated Press. He was wearing his maroon J.R.O.T.C. emblem polo shirt when he was arrested after the shooting, The A.P. reported. |
| “We all have those shirts,” Angelyse Perez, an 18-year-old senior and a company commander, told The Washington Post. “We’re never wearing them again. We’re going to destroy them all.” | “We all have those shirts,” Angelyse Perez, an 18-year-old senior and a company commander, told The Washington Post. “We’re never wearing them again. We’re going to destroy them all.” |
| At rallies across the country on Monday and Tuesday, students made pleas for gun control and declared that while they might not be old enough to vote, they were old enough to change society. | |
| A crowd of students stood on the steps of the squat, red-brick public library in Toms River, N.J., on Monday, a school holiday, to express their solidarity with the fallen Parkland students and teachers. | |
| In Chicago, students from the South Side, where gun violence has been a problem, began organizing to demand gun control legislation. | |
| In Battle Creek, Mich., dozens of students walked out of Harper Creek High School on Tuesday to protest gun violence in schools. | |
| And in Bakersfield, Calif., about a dozen students and 80 adults joined a protest on Monday. “Listening to how worried my mother was dropping me off Friday morning after the shooting was one of the worst things I’ve had to listen to in a while,” Lucy Brown, a member of the Bakersfield High School Young Democrats Club who helped organize the protests, told bakersfield.com. | |
| The Florida shooting has renewed attention on state laws that allow a judge to remove weapons from people deemed dangerous, known as “red flag” laws. The measures are frequently supported by Democrats, but opposed by many Republicans and gun rights advocates. | |
| State Representative Arthur O’Neill, a Republican from Connecticut, one of only five states to have such laws, has said he would write to legislative leaders in other states to urge them to adopt similar laws. “Unfortunately, this law is not as widely known as it should be,” Mr. O’Neill said last week in a statement. | |
| In Pennsylvania, State Senator Daylin Leach on Tuesday announced that he was proposing red flag legislation. | |
| “Frequently, when there are mass shootings, we see stories about how the shooter made threats, posted on social media, and did all kinds of things showing that he was a danger to the community, yet nothing was done,” said Mr. Leach, a Democrat, in a statement. “My new bill would allow a judge to separate dangerous people from their guns until they get the help they need.” | |
| Similar bills have been proposed this year in other states, including Hawaii and Illinois. The National Rifle Association has often spoken against red flag legislation, saying the judges’ orders can infringe on a person’s Second Amendment rights when no crime has been committed. | |
| Two of the nation’s governors have shown a willingness to change their mind on gun control in the wake of the Florida shooting, while other governors have simply dug in on whichever side of the gun debate they were already on. | |
| In Vermont, a progressive but rural state with largely permissive gun laws, Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, initially told reporters the state’s gun laws did not need to be updated after the Florida shooting, according to news reports. But Mr. Scott changed his tone a day later, after the authorities accused an 18-year-old student of planning an attack at his school in Fair Haven, Vt. | |
| “We must determine if we are truly doing all we can to prevent violence,” Mr. Scott said, and asked legislative leaders to identify policy changes and have “an open conversation about gun safety.” | |
| In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who has previously touted support from the National Rifle Association, made an impassioned plea for Congress to consider restrictions on assault weapons. | |
| “Would you feel as though your Second Amendment rights would be eroded because you couldn’t buy a God darn AR-15?” Mr. Kasich, who voted for an assault weapons ban in 1994 while in Congress, asked on CNN. “These are the things that have to be looked at.” | |
| In Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, repeated a position he took late last month after a 15-year-old shot and killed two fellow students at a high school in Benton, Ky. Mr. Bevin told The Cincinnati Enquirer that it was violent video games and culture, rather than guns, that should be restricted. | |
| In Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo, the Democratic governor, reiterated calls for stronger state and federal measures. | |
| “We need to outlaw military-style assault weapons like our neighbors have in Massachusetts and Connecticut,” Ms. Raimondo told The Providence Journal, also calling for a ban on high-capacity magazines. | |
| And in Idaho, according to The Statesman, Gov. C.L. Otter, a Republican, suggested there was little more the state could do to prevent school shootings. “I think we’ve done what we can do,” he said. |