‘Shame on you’: survivors of Florida school shooting lash out at NRA and weak gun control

Survivors of the Florida school shooting lashed out at lawmakers, gun advocates, and even President Donald Trump on Saturday at a fiery rally demanding immediate gun-control measures in the wake of Wednesday's high school massacre that killed 17. One of the Florida shooting survivors, Emma Gonzalez, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, excoriated Trump and the National Rifle Association. What Trump didn’t say on his Florida visit that frustrated shooting survivors “If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association,” Gonzalez said. “But, hey, you wanna know something? It doesn't matter because I already know: $30 million.” Scores of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School joined hundreds of others gathered in downtown Fort Lauderdale. To every politician who is taking donations from the NRA, shame on you Florida school shooting survivor, Emma Gonzalez Gonzalez also slammed Trump for a recent tweet that some perceived as placing blame on former classmates of suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz for not contacting authorities. She demanded Trump explain how much he believed America's gunshot victims were worth. “If you don't do anything to prevent this from continuing to occur, that number of gunshot victims will go up and the number that they are worth will go down. And we will be worthless to you,” she said. “To every politician who is taking donations from the NRA, shame on you.” “No more guns! No more guns!” the crowd chanted. FBI admits it didn’t investigate Florida school shooter tip-off Students, teachers, and local officials took turns giving impassioned speeches before the crowd, simultaneously celebrating those who died and blasting inaction from lawmakers in Washington. Gonzalez has been far from the only student at Stoneman Douglas speaking out against gun violence. David Hogg, a senior at the school, has been particularly vocal. “Some of our policymakers and some people need to look in the mirror and take some action because ideas are great, but without action, ideas stay ideas and children die,” Hogg told CNN on Thursday. Another US mass shooting and no gun control: why is the NRA so powerful? Representative Ted Deutch, a Democrat who serves Florida's 22nd congressional district, also attended the rally and said the House of Representatives will propose legislation next week that would ban semi-automatic assault rifles, like the one used in Wednesday's shooting. Deutch implored students at Stoneman Douglas and others throughout the country to continue speaking out. “It is just not acceptable to ever think that it should be commonplace in our country for people to send their kids to school in the morning and not know if they’re going to come home at the end of the day,” Deutch said. He also laid out four other measures for Congress to consider: preventing people on the no-fly list from purchasing firearms, subjecting every gun buyer to a full background check, banning high-capacity magazines, and increasing the minimum age requirement to buy a rifle to 21. The tragedy in Parkland has sparked pro-gun-control rallies beyond Florida. … without action, ideas stay ideas and children die School senior, David Hogg A day after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas, gun control advocacy groups occupied the Massachusetts State House, demanding action on a bill that would prevent individuals who pose extreme risks to themselves or others from possessing a firearm. In San Diego, more than 100 people gathered in support for a ban on assault weapons. Hundreds more convened outside NRA headquarters in Virginia, criticising the influence the gun rights lobby has on politicians. On Friday, a group called 'Student Walkout Against Gun Violence,' which appears to have been launched in response to the Florida shooting, said it is planning a nationwide walkout sometime next week in schools across the country to demand action. CALLING ALL STUDENTS In response to the Florida shooting, there will be a nation-wide walkout held next week. Take action. Start planning with friends and classmates. Spread the word. Walkout time/date to be released by Monday the 19th. — Student Walkout Against Gun Violence (@studentswalkout) February 16, 2018 Gun control remains a hot-button political issue on Capitol Hill. Though mass shootings tend to elicit increased support from lawmakers in the immediate aftermath of the massacres, that support usually dies out in the following weeks and months. Senator Chris Murphy has been one of the more outspoken lawmakers on gun control. Amid the Florida shooting, Murphy lashed out at his colleagues on the Senate floor for failing to act. “This happens nowhere else other than the United States of America,” Murphy, the senator from Connecticut, said. “This epidemic of mass slaughter – this scourge of school shooting after school shooting. It only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction.”