STUDENTS OF THE FLORIDA SCHOOL WHERE 17 PEOPLE DIED THIS WEEK SAY THEY PLAN TO ORGANIZE NATIONWIDE MARCHES FOR GUN CONTROL NEXT MONTH AND TRY TO CREATE A “BADGE OF SHAME” FOR U.S. POLITICIANS.
WASHINGTON • Students of the Florida school where 17 people died this week said Sunday they will organize nationwide marches for gun control next month and try to create a “badge of shame” for politicians who take money from the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups.
“We are losing our lives while the adults are playing around,” Cameron Kasky said on CNN’s State of the Union. Kasky, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has been part of an outpouring of anger from students who survived the shooting, many of whom have publicly blamed President Donald Trump and NRA-supported politicians for creating the conditions that led to the shooting.
“This is about us begging for our lives, this isn’t about the GOP, this isn’t about the Democrats, this is about us creating a badge of shame for any politicians accepting money from the NRA and using us as collateral,” Kasky said.
An NRA spokeswoman declined to comment.
Kasky and other students said they are organizing “March for Our Lives” rallies in Washington, D.C., and major U.S. cities on March 24 to demand action on gun violence.
Another student, Emma Gonzalez, said on ABC’s This Week that the students want to talk to political leaders, including Trump, about gun control.
“We want to give them an opportunity to be on the right side of this,” said Gonzalez.
The students appeared on multiple Sunday morning political shows to discuss their views and goals in the wake of the shooting, and made clear they are going to target lawmakers up for election this year who they view as standing against their cause.
“At this point, I don’t even know if the adults in power who are funded by the NRA, I don’t think we need them anymore because they are going to be gone by the midterm election,” Gonzalez said on Face the Nation on CBS. “There’s barely any time for them to save their skins, and if they don’t turn around right now and state their open support for this movement, they’re going to be left behind because you’re either with us or you’re against us at this point.”
Another student, David Hogg, ripped Trump for suggesting in a tweet Saturday night that Democrats had let them down by failing to pass gun-control legislation when they held Congress.
“We’ve seen a government shutdown, we’ve seen tax reform, but nothing to save our children’s lives,” said Hogg. “Are you kidding me? You think now is the time to focus on the past and not the future to prevent the deaths of thousands of other children? You sicken me.”
Trump tweeted Saturday night that it was “not acceptable” that the FBI failed to stop the Parkland shooting — arguing the agency was too focused on probing Russian interference in the 2016 election and should get “back to basics.”
Carly Novell, a student who hid in a closet for two hours during the attack, responded angrily to the president: “You know what isn’t acceptable? Blaming everyone but the shooter and the lack of gun control in our country. You even blamed the students. We did report him; we tried. But how were we supposed to know what would happen? Your lack of sympathy proves how pitiful of a person you are.”
While the student activists repeatedly expressed optimism and hope for constructive conversations and changes to U.S. gun laws, the politicians who appeared on Sunday’s shows expressed great skepticism.
Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., told CBS he doubted anything will happen until voters force changes.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said the issue raised by the Florida shooting is that the FBI could have prevented the shooting, and added he thought Congress “will get something done this year” on the gun background check system.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, said the students “are absolutely right when they say that politicians have not been responding to any of this,” and blamed congressional dysfunction.