On Valentine’s Day this year, after being expelled, a 19-year-old came back into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and shot 17 people. This tragic event has caused many of the high school’s students and parents to speak up about gun laws. According to CNN, young survivors are organizing advocacy for gun reform. Darren Levine, a teacher of the high school, stated, “They can change the world, and we can only go with them.” Furthermore, there will be several official meetings with law enforcement, school administrators, teachers, and mental health experts to determine better ways to protect the safety of students within schools.
The high school will be reopening in phases as the school will run on a modified schedule to ease students back into classes within 1 week. Some students opened up about the terror they experienced within the high school that day. As stated on People Magazine, Lorena Sanabria, a student of the school, explained,
“We were all desperate. We were all crying. We were on our phones trying to stay in touch with our families and read the news.” Her mother stated, “I heard the gunshots. My daughter was talking to me and I was hearing the gunshots.”
Time Magazine notes that people from all over the country are in protest, hoping to place added pressure on Congress due to the aftermath of this horrific event. Over 100 students from the high school are heading to Florida’s capital to urge lawmakers to take action on gun laws as to prevent a repeat of the event that happened on Valentine’s Day.
Another group of protesters in Los Angeles rallied for stricter background checks and other safety-related measures, with some even holding up signs that said “Our Children Are Counting On You”. Thus far, the Senate is preparing a package that includes increasing the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, establishing a waiting period to purchase a firearm, creating gun-violence restraining orders, and more.
Hopefully with more people speaking up, we can persuade Congress to take a stance for children – and everyone – all over the country. Placing more safety measures could potentially prevent some of what has unfortunately happened already this year.
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