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School Shooting: Students Rally, Meet With State Leaders

A week after a mass shooting at a Broward County high school, survivors and gun-control advocates demanded Wednesday that state lawmakers enact tighter gun and school-safety laws as a rally drew one of the largest crowds at the Capitol since the 2000 election recount.

Several thousand people gathered outside the Old Capitol building and overflowed onto nearby Monroe Street, as students, activists and Democratic lawmakers expressed anger amid chants of “We want change,” “Not one more,” “Throw them out,” and “Never again.”

“This tragedy has taught us to be fearless, because we now know what it feels like to be afraid,” Rachel Catania, 15, a sophomore from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, told a roaring crowd. “How many more innocent people have to die before we make a change? Change is overdue. And we are the change. When leaders act like children and children act like leaders, you know something is about to change.”

People attending the event vented about a need to improve safety, with banners proclaiming, “It Happened at my school #NeverAgain,” “Listen to the students, they are the targets,” and “No fear in our schools.”

As a sign of interest in the issues, the Leon County school district allowed its students to attend the rally.

Two gun-related measures backed by Second Amendment advocates were put on hold Wednesday as students from Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and other schools pressured lawmakers for gun-control legislation.

The Senate postponed a vote on a bill (SB 1048) that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns at churches and other religious institutions that share property with schools. It also postponed a vote on a more-obscure bill (HB 55) that would allow people to use credit cards to make payments for background checks on firearm purchases.

Sen. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala Republican who is sponsoring the bill about guns at churches, said it was a good to “pause” as lawmakers come face to face with students grieving after the mass shooting last week that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Also, lawmakers await a proposed legislative package from Gov. Rick Scott in response to the shooting.

“Right now, we understand what this week is. It’s very enmeshed in what we do to make students safe,” Baxley said. “We understand that atmosphere, and that’s why some of these things just need to be put off.”

Students cried, pleaded and argued with lawmakers Wednesday in the state Capitol.

More than 100 survivors of one of the nation’s worst school shootings spent the day advocating for changes ranging from stricter gun laws to metal detectors, demanding that state lawmakers take swift action to prevent another tragedy like the one that left 17 people, including 14 schoolmates, dead.

The students met with a wide range of legislators and other officials, including Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron.

While the students’ main focus was on gun control, the teenagers — several of whom gave impassioned speeches at a midday press conference — also begged lawmakers to quickly pass measures to make schools safer in other ways.

“We will not be discouraged. We will not falter. We will not stop this movement. This is more than just us. This is everybody in America. This is for every single kid who fears for their life. This is more than Parkland. This is more than Florida. This is more than the United States. This is something serious. It is about human lives,” Alfonso Calderon, 16, said at the press conference.

Nearly all of the students attended a meeting with Corcoran inside the House chamber, where Madison Leal gave a tearful description of how “my high school turned into a horror scene” after Nikolas Cruz opened fire on faculty and students with an assault-style rifle on Feb. 14. Leal said she hid in a closet for hours, crying and texting, unaware of what was happening outside her classroom.

Republican House members Jeanette Nunez of Miami and Jim Boyd of Bradenton, along with Coconut Creek Democrat Kristin Jacobs and Sen. Lauren Book, a Plantation Democrat who helped organized the bus trip, joined Corcoran in promising the students that they would pass some legislation to protect students before the legislative session ends on March 9.

“This has overshadowed everything. This has become our priority. I cannot say it enough: We will not fail you,” Nunez pledged.

Many of the students questioned why state lawmakers would not support an outright ban on assault-style rifles like the one used by Cruz, who legally purchased the weapon, with no waiting period, last year.

One girl asked Corcoran “why such a destructive gun is available to the public.”

“It’s widely used in multiple different scenarios,” the speaker said, adding that “we’re having a conversation about it” and that he has six children.

“I don’t think there’s bipartisan support for it,” Corcoran said.

While students politely raised their hands to be called on during the meeting with Corcoran, the teenagers were more confrontational shortly afterward as they stood at the podium facing dozens of television cameras and members of the press from around the world.

“We are not here to be patted on the back,” 17-year-old senior Delaney Tarr said.

Tarr said she and her friends are angered by politicians who “dance around our questions,” reminding lawmakers that many of the students will soon be able to vote.

“We want change,” Tarr said. “They must do right by us or lose their jobs. … We’ve had enough of thoughts and prayers.”

The students had mixed reactions to their reception by lawmakers.

Leal said she disagreed with Corcoran about the ban on assault weapons, a demand that was the focus of a large rally outside the Capitol on Wednesday.

Ryan Deitsch, a senior at the high school, criticized legislators for “political doubletalk” on the gun issue.

“I can vote, and I know who I’m not voting for,” Deitsch said.

Scott on Tuesday said he intends to roll out a legislative package by Friday that would, among other things, require schools to hold active shooter drills, “significantly increase” funding for school safety and mental health, and make it harder for people with a history of mental-health problems, like Cruz, to have guns.

Scott also wants to make sure people under age 21 can’t purchase long guns or rifles and impose waiting periods for the purchases of rifles, similar to current restrictions for handguns.

The House, too, will release a proposal before the end of the week, Corcoran told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

by Jim Turner and Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida

Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.