VIOLENCE
Connor Dietrich, 17, a junior at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, said Trump needs to be focused on gun regulations, including expanded background checks, and more help for the mentally ill.
“None of us are OK,” Dietrich said of the survivors. “This was a tragic event we were all forced to live through. But we are here turning our grief into fuel to make change happen, and we need the president as focused on change as we are.”
Tuesday, three buses carrying 100 students from Parkland traveled to the state Capitol in Tallahassee to urge lawmakers to prevent another massacre, but within hours the gun-friendly Legislature had effectively halted any possibility of banning assault rifles like the one used in the attack.
The legislative action further energized the teens as they prepared to confront legislators who have quashed gun-control efforts for decades in a state where 1.3 million people have concealed-carry permits.
“They’re voting to have shootings continually happen. These people who voted down the bill haven’t experienced what we did. I want to say to them, ‘It could be you,’” 16-year-old Noah Kaufman said after he made the 400mile trip to Tallahassee.
The students carried sleeping bags and pillows and hugged their parents as they departed from Parkland. They spent the seven-hour ride checking their phones, watching videos and reading comments on social media about the shooting, some of which accused them of being liberal pawns.
Meanwhile at the Statehouse, a Democratic representative asked for a procedural move that would have allowed the Republicancontrolled House to consider a ban on large-capacity magazines and assault rifles such as the AR-15 that was wielded by the Parkland suspect, Nickolas Cruz.
The bill had been assigned to three committees but was not scheduled for a hearing. The House quickly nixed the Democratic motion. The vote broke down along party lines, and Republicans criticized Democrats for forcing the vote.
Because the committees will not meet again before the legislative session ends March 9, the move essentially extinguishes hope that lawmakers would vote on any sweeping measures to restrict assault rifles, although other proposals still could be considered.
“No one in the world with the slightest little hint of a soul isn’t moved by this tragedy,” Republican strategist Rick Wilson said. “The discussion has to be a longer, bigger and broader discussion.”
Lizzie Eaton, a junior at Marjory Stoneman, spent the day lobbying senators of both parties and concluded that lawmakers were “just not listening to us.”
The vote was “heartbreaking,” she said. “But we’re not going to stop.”
The students plan to hold a rally Wednesday to put more pressure on the Legislature as well as meet with top legislative leaders.
“I really think they are going to hear us out,” said Chris Grady, a high school senior who was on the bus.
The Feb. 14 attack initially appeared to overcome the resistance of some in the state’s political leadership, which has rebuffed gun restrictions since Republicans took control of both the governor’s office and the Legislature in 1999. However, many members of the party still have strong resistance to any gun-control measures.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate say they will consider raising age restrictions for gun purchases and temporarily revoking someone’s guns if that person is deemed a threat to others. Gov. Rick Scott, also a Republican, convened groups assigned to propose measures for protecting schools from gun violence.
Kyle Kashuv, a 16-year-old student at the high school, said he was pro-gun prior to the shooting.
“I had no issue with anyone having a gun of any caliber,” said Kashuv, as he rode on the bus to Tallahassee. “I was all for it. But after the situation, I realized we have some issues in our society and it has to be addressed.”
The White House appears to be taking some steps to address the issues, even though Trump, a strong supporter of gun rights, has not endorsed more-robust changes sought by gun-control activists.
Asked at a press briefing Tuesday if Trump is open to reinstating a ban on assaulttype weapons, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said White House officials “haven’t closed the door on any front.” She also said that the idea of raising the age limit to buy an AR-15 is “on the table for us to discuss.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and leading advocate for tighter gun controls, said Trump’s directive on bump stocks suggests the president is aware of fresh energy on the issue and called it a sign that “for the first time,” politicians are “scared of the political consequences of inaction on guns.” The president’s action was “a small, but vital step in the history of our movement” against gun violence, Murphy added.
Trump said he wanted to crack down on a device that was used in the October shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead. A bipartisan legislative effort to ban the device last year fizzled out.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced in December that it was reviewing whether weapons using bump stocks should be considered illegal machine guns under federal law. Trump on Tuesday signed a memorandum directing the agency to complete the review as soon as possible and propose a rule “banning all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns.”
The Department of Justice, reacting to Trump’s memo, said in a statement that it “understands this is a priority for the president and has acted quickly to move through the rulemaking process.”
A day earlier, Trump sent another signal he had been swayed by the Parkland shooting and the dramatic calls for action. A White House statement said Trump was looking at a bill that would strengthen federal gun background checks.
The president was moved by his visit Friday with Florida victims in the hospital and is trying to work on solutions, said a person familiar with his thinking who sought anonymity.