Stoneman Douglas students lobby for gun control

WASHINGTON — Two hundred Parkland students descended on the U.S. Capitol on Friday to lobby members of Congress for stricter gun control laws ahead of Saturday’s March for Our Lives, the student-led demonstration announced after last month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Joined by a group of Democratic lawmakers and by classmates from Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the Parkland students rallied on the House Triangle at 9 a.m. Friday morning.

“We have come here today to hold accountable politicians and their disturbing inaction,” said Demitri Hoth, a Stoneman Douglas senior. “Never again will our voices, students’ voices, be silenced and shunned.”

The students were accompanied by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Boca Raton), Senators Bill Nelson (D-Florida) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, along with her husband, Captain Mark Kelly. Giffords and Kelly founded the anti-gun violence organization Giffords, which paid for the travel expenses of 200 Parkland students and organized their trip to Washington.

“Stoneman Douglas students have energized the nation,” said Deutch. “Congress did more yesterday than they’ve done in recent memory, and they did it because of these students and the movement that they started.”