Students ‘not going to give up’ on gun law
Rally organizers, Democrats call for strict firearm rules
Just weeks after 15,000 turned out in Houston to advocate stricter gun laws, March for Our Lives organizers were back at work Saturday, urging local politicians to champion the cause at a series of town hall meetings.
“We all agree this issue is too big. We’re going to get tired, but we’re not going to give up,” said Marcel McClinton, 16, from Statford High School.
Students are calling for additional background checks and reduced access to assault-style rifles following the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 14 teens and three adults.
Rice University freshman Hannah Meeks, who graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, said she has friends in Florida who knew some of the victims. “If we wait until its most convenient for us to raise our voices, real change will never come. Never forget those we lost to gun violence because we can never forget why we are fighting,” she said.
The slate of Democratic candidates who attended the event at Rice University agreed with students about expanding universal background checks, raising the age limits of gun purchases and working to remove guns from violent offenders.
State Rep. Carol Alvarado said she was proud of the “F” grade she received from the National Rifle Association. She stressed that voters should elect more candidates who support gun reform.
“We need to repeal open carry. We need to repeal campus carry,” she said. “But it doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve got to change the face of the leadership in this state.”
Laura Moser, the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District, said parents should not have to bury the children they send to school.
Closing loopholes to prevent domestic abuses from obtaining weapons, passing universal background checks and raising the age to purchase guns would help prevent deaths, she said. “We need just need to do all of these things so that this generation is the last generation that has to deal with this stuff that we’re seeing everyday that have become commonplace,” Moser said.
Lizzie Fletcher, a Democratic running for the same seat, said Republican incumbent John Culberson is not listening to his constituents.
“This conversation that we are having today is one that Houstonians have been having in their living rooms for years,” she said.
Lina Hidalgo, a Democratic candidate for Harris County judge, said gun shows should not be permitted to sell guns without background checks.
A program to buy back guns from people should also be available, she said.
Steve David, a Democratic candidate for the 8th Congressional District, called owning guns a privilege. “I believe if you’re a violent criminal, you don’t deserve to own a gun. You’ve lost that privilege,” he said.
Rita Lucido, the state Senate Democratic candidate for District 17, said that minorities tend to be seen as a threat, which has led to them being shot in disproportionate numbers. She also noted that members of the LGBTQ community suffer a higher rate of gun violence.
“Trans women are killed at an alarming rate and we have to talk about this. They are members of our community. They are set aside as if they are not even there,” she said.