Pro-gun rights student Kyle Kashuv invites students to D.C. summit

Outspoken Marjory Stoneman Douglas High student Kyle Kashuv is promoting an expenses-paid trip to a conservative student summit in Washington, D.C., later this month.

The High School Leadership Summit at George Washington University is being hosted by Turning Point USA, a conservative student group founded by gun-rights advocate Charlie Kirk. It’s drawing speakers such as Donald Trump Jr., former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis.

Students must apply to attend the summit, which is July 23 to 26. Most of the 70 paid places for Stoneman Douglas students have been awarded, but the goal is to get all interested teens from the school to attend, said Kashuv, also Turning Point USA’s director of high school outreach.

The trip, paid for by Turning Point USA, would cover Kashuv about $325 in airfare, the $15 attendance fee to the summit, and lodging. Interested students can go to tpusa.com/hsls2018/.

“The scholarship is an amazing opportunity for kids from Stoneman Douglas who have been ostracized and don’t feel like they have been allowed to speak out to actually talk and interact with these legislators,” Kashuv, 17, said. “It’s tough to come out in support of the Second Amendment when your school just went through a school shooting.”

Kashuv says he thinks there are many politically conservative students at his school who are afraid to voice their support of gun rights.

In April, Kashuv invited Kirk to speak at the Stoneman Douglas campus, but he was turned away by the Broward School District.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a pro gun-control group, also was not allowed to have representatives on campus.