Shooting survivors to press for gun control

PARKLAND, Florida (AP) – Nineteen-year-old senior Chris Grady was hiding at Stoneman Douglas High School during the shooting days ago. He says he's angry and will be pressing with other students for gun control measures.

He and some fellow students organized a rally Sunday near the Parkland, Florida, high school, set to press for greater gun control measures from lawmakers. The students plan to visit the state capital, Tallahassee, and visit the nation's capital in March.

Grady says pupils targeted by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, in 2012 were "too young to understand." But he adds: "We want to be the voice for those kids and thousands of others who have been af- fected by tragedies like this."

A gun show went on as scheduled this weekend, a short drive from the school where a teenager used his own legally purchased AR15 assault weapon to kill 17 people and wound more than a dozen others. Many assault weapons were on display as customers, some bringing their children, checked out the killing firepower.

Jorge Fernandez spoke for Florida Gun Shows in sharing what he called their "deepest condolences to the persons who have been involved in this terrible tragedy." But he told The Associated Press that his company's shows are scheduled years in advance, and "it would just be cost prohibitive to cancel."

Fernandez says he personally blames the shooting not on guns, but on the mental health of the 19-year-old shooter, Nikolas Cruz. He says he feels there should be a mechanism permitting doctors or law enforcement to identify people with mental health problems and do something about it.

The principal of the Florida high school where a gunman killed 17 people last week addressed the community in an emotional video message.

The video, which was posted Sunday, showed an emotional Ty Thompson, who is principal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.