Even if Congress won’t, Florida needs to ban assault weapons
When tragedies occur, we usually cannot control them. For example, we cannot predict car accidents or prevent earthquakes.
But what does it say about us as a nation when we can predict, prevent, or at least limit tragedies like mass shootings, yet choose not to? What kind of example are we setting for our country’s children?
The plain and simple truth is we can immediately make a huge impact on this issue by banning military-grade semi-automatic rifles.
When I learned my 14-year-old cousin, Alex Schachter, had been killed in the Parkland massacre, it was the saddest and most confusing moment of my life. I didn’t understand how someone could simply walk into a school with such an easily obtainable killing machine and unleash that kind of chaos. In the months following, I naively assumed measures would be implemented to prevent such catastrophes from happening again. Unfortunately, like every mass shooting before this, we received the same response from the people in charge: “thoughts and prayers.”
Since then, while Americans have continued anxiously awaiting common sense gun safety reforms, approximately 120,000 of us have been killed by gun violence, including 1,300 mass shootings.
Last week, in response, President Biden signed six executive orders that will undoubtedly save lives. I cannot express how incredible this was for me, and although I’m 100% supportive of his efforts, I know we still have a lot of work to do.
If President Biden was able to ban assault weapons through executive action, I’m confident he would. Instead, he’s calling on Congress to act. If the past is any indication, I feel strongly that it’s best for us to start considering other solutions. Since Congress may not reinstate a federal assault weapons ban, our best option is to do this work at the state level.
That is why I’m working with Ban Assault Weapons Now (BAWN) to encourage Florida’s lawmakers to take immediate action. This legislative session, state Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, and state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando have filed Senate Bill 370 and House Bill 653, which prohibit the sale, transfer and possession of assault weapons or large-capacity magazines. In turn, BAWN has launched a major legislative outreach and digital advertising campaign supporting this legislation. As of today, there are 34 legislators in the Florida House and Senate co-sponsoring them. I implore all lawmakers in Tallahassee to join them and ask my fellow Floridians to join BAWN in contacting their lawmakers to demand a hearing and a vote on SB 370 and HB 653.
My generation is the future of this country, and we are tired of gun violence killing our loved ones. As I have personally experienced, gun violence does not discriminate. Most people don’t believes tragedies like school shootings could happen to their families. I was among them. I hope you never have to be. So, call your state legislators and demand they act before it’s too late.