Florida students to march on Washington
WASHINGTON — Students who survived a mass shooting at their Florida school yesterday announced plans to march on Washington in a bid to "shame" politicians into reforming laws that make firearms readily available.
The "March for Our Lives" will take place on March 24, with sister rallies planned across the country, a group of students told ABC News' "This Week."
They pledged to make Wednesday's slaughter in Parkland, Florida a turning point in America's deadlocked debate on gun control.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, a troubled former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, confessed to killing 17 people with a legally-purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the latest such atrocity in a country with more than 30,000 gun-related deaths annually.
Among the students announcing the march was Emma Gonzalez, who captured worldwide attention with a powerful speech in which she assailed President Donald Trump over the multi-million-dollar support his campaign received from the gun lobby.
She vowed Stoneman Douglas school would be "the last mass shooting."
On Sunday, Gonzalez, 18, urged politicians to join a conversation about gun control — citing Trump as well as his fellow Republicans Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Scott.
"We want to give them the opportunity to be on the right side of this," she said, as she and her four classmates called on students nationwide to help push the message.
Gonzalez and other Stoneman Douglas students were scheduled to be part of a nationally televised, prime-time "town hall" event on CNN on Wednesday. Rubio, who has attracted criticism for accepting millions in political help from pro-gun groups, tweeted that he would participate.
That same day, Trump will host a "listening session" with high school students and teachers, the White House said in a statement, though it did not specify who would attend.
The president met Sunday with top Republican lawmaker Paul Ryan, discussing "the recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida," among other topics.