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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 223 ~ 27 of 52
ban for people of certain ages. He said he was new to Tallahassee, had taken no money from the National Ri e Association and would work on some kind of change, but couldn’t offer speci cs.
The students were not impressed.
“Can you tell us names of other Republicans who we should meet with who will support us?” Cooper asked.
“I won’t name names,” Olszewski replied. “But anyone you visit on this oor I can tell you, you’ll be batting a thousand.”
The group walked out, eyes rolling.
“It’s disheartening,” Cooper said afterward. “But honestly, I didn’t expect much better.”
The students stopped in the labyrinthine hallway to consult a schedule and map of the building, then
crammed into the of ce of state Rep. Barrington Russell, a Democrat who supports gun control.
Aria Siccone, a 14-year-old freshman at Stoneman Douglas, held a sign that said “Ban Assault Ri es Now.” Her nails were painted black, and she wore a small heart pendant around her neck. She was in a classroom targeted by the shooter, identi ed as 19-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student Nikolas Cruz. “I saw three of my classmates from that period on the oor and they didn’t make it,” the girl said, barely
making it through her story.
The lawmaker, a Jamaican native who said he’d been held at gunpoint more than once in his life, rose
from his chair and put his arm around Siccone.
“For some reason the NRA has a very strong hold on some of my colleagues that prevents them from
doing the right thing,” he said.
After the meetings with Russell and Olszewski, the group headed for the committee meeting. Later in
the day, they would lie down and pose as corpses in a silent protest outside Gov. Rick Scott’s Capitol of- ce. And staffers wouldn’t disturb them.
Ira Jaffe, a parent whose son couldn’t make it to Tallahassee because he was attending two of his classmates’ funerals, held the door as the students led into a room.
“What are we doing now?” one asked.
“We’re interrupting a committee meeting,” Jaffe said matter-of-factly.
“That’s awesome,” the teen replied.
Rabbi Bradd Boxman, who had chaperoned the teens, was boiling with anger and sadness when he
interrupted the meeting to announce the students’ presence.
Rep. Shawn Harrison, the committee’s vice chair, told the students they could speak brie y. “We will
never doubt your impact on this debate,” Harrison said. “We know your hearts are in the right place.” Rosenzweig told of her terror, and Cooper repeated his earlier question about the assault-weapons ban. Moments later, the students, brimming with con dence, gathered outside the Capitol, raised their signs,
and marched straight ahead, yelling, “We are MSD! We will make history!”
And then they disappeared into the crowd, joining with other protesters and the thousands who had
gathered to support them. ___
Follow Jason Dearen on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen
Florida students pushing for gun regulations face pushback By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, GARY FINEOUT and TERRY SPENCER, Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The students who swarmed Florida’s state capitol in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre want the Legislature to enact stricter limits on guns. What that might entail remains debatable — if any changes are forthcoming at all.
The 100 Stoneman Douglas survivors who traveled 400 miles to Tallahassee were welcomed into the gun-friendly halls of power Wednesday, but the students’ top goal — a ban on assault-style ri es such as the weapon used in the massacre — was taken off the table a day earlier, although more limited measures are still possible.