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Wasserman Schultz town hall focuses on guns and school safety
PEMBROKE PINES — First there was the national March for Our Lives response to the deadly shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The next wave of the gun control-school safety movement continued Saturday with a congresswoman’s “Town Hall for Our Lives” session featuring poignant remarks from victims and survivors of the tragedy.
“My generation is ready to lead and change the world,” said Mei Ling Ho-Shing, a junior at Stoneman Douglas who said she hid behind a desk during the Feb. 14 rampage that killed 17 students and faculty members and injured 17 others.
The 17-year-old student lamented losing out on her planned high school experience of eagerly awaiting prom and performing in school shows, but promised she “will do everything I can to stop (gun violence) from happening to other people like me.”
Debbie Hixon, widow of Stoneman Douglas Athletic Director Chris Hixon, received a standing ovation from the more than 300 students, teachers, parents and others at Southwest Focal Point Senior Center in Pembroke Pines.
Hixon, whose 49-year-old husband was a Navy veteran who served in the Iraq war, said the senseless tragedy could have been prevented by “not having weapons of war available to the general public.”
Gunman Nikolas Cruz, 19, used an AR-15-type rifle to carry out the massacre, police said.
Saturday’s session was the latest in a series of town halls in South Florida sparked by the student-led led #NeverAgain movement.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, hosted the gathering aimed at attacking “gun violence at every level.”
“I can’t think of a time it was more important to come together … to make the kind of change to keep our community safe and stop the scourge of gun violence,” Wasserman Schultz said. “It’s not going to be an easy discussion.”
Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed at Stoneman Douglas, got loud applause when he told the crowd he would work tirelessly to “break” the gun lobby in the United States and bring about common sense regulations.
Explaining how his Orange Ribbons for Jaime foundation is working to promote gun safety legislation, Guttenberg said opponents were “messing with the wrong kids and the wrong dad.”
He also said he believes in the Second Amendment, but not the “misinterpreted version” pushed by the National Rifle Association and others. And he vowed to help remove all lawmakers, regardless of political party, who oppose change that will save lives.
“This is not partisan for me; this is life or death,” Guttenberg said.
Outside the community center, several gun-rights supporters held signs touting their positions, which included calls for Broward Sheriff Scott Israel to be removed from office. The town hall itself was harmonious until the very end, when one man shouted his outrage that the sheriff wasn’t in attendance.
Lucdwin Luck of Fort Lauderdale, one of the gun-rights advocates, said he was disappointed his question about the status of an investigation into breakdowns that led to the Parkland shooting wasn’t answered during the event.
“You can tell it’s not balanced,” he said.
Wasserman Schultz said she invited school resource officer leaders to attend the event, but they didn’t respond.
While introducing speaker and student organizer Nicole Straight from Cypress Bay High in her hometown of Weston, the congresswoman praised the grassroots efforts from “amazing” students who have led efforts to spur a national dialogue on gun control.
“I think we’re putting the NRA on notice here,” Wasserman Schultz said. “This momentum is just getting started.”
She assured the audience she’s determined to fight for laws to ensure that people who shouldn’t have access to firearms don’t get them.
“We should close all the background check loopholes, of which there are many,” Wasserman Schultz said.
She also expressed support for national legislation on “gun-violence restraining orders” that allow police to seek court orders to take guns from people who are found to be a threat to themselves and others. A so-called “red flag” law was enacted in Florida law in response to the Stoneman Douglas killings.
But she condemned proposals that call for arming teachers, contending that “putting more guns in schools makes schools more dangerous, not safer.”
The town hall idea came from Stoneman Douglas students as an outgrowth of the Town Hall Project, created last year by a staffer with the Hillary Clinton campaign for president.
The concept fosters face-toface conversations with lawmakers while they are on recess from Washington until Monday. One of the purposes is to raise awareness before November’s midterm elections.
“Vote,” urged Wasserman Schultz, “like your lives depend on it.”