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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 223 ~ 35 of 52
Outside the building, the crowd burst into chants of “Vote them out!” as speakers called for the removal of Republican lawmakers who refuse to address gun control issues. One sign read, “Remember the men who value the NRA over children’s lives” and then listed Republicans in Florida’s congressional delegation. Other signs said, “Kill the NRA, not our kids” and “These kids are braver than the GOP.”
About 30 people left an anti-gun rally outside Florida’s Old Capitol and began a sit-in protest at the of ce of four House Republican leaders, demanding a conversation about gun legislation.
“They’re not speaking to us right now. We only asked for ve minutes and so we’re just sitting until they speak,” Tyrah Williams, a 15-year-old sophomore at Leon High School, which is within walking distance of the Capitol.
In Washington, students and parents delivered emotional appeals to President Donald Trump to act on school safety and guns. The president promised to be “very strong on background checks,” adding that “we’re going to do plenty of other things.”
And at a news conference Wednesday, Broward County, Florida, Sheriff Scott Israel ordered all deputies who qualify to begin carrying ri es on school grounds. The ri es will be locked in patrol cars when not in use until the agency secures gun lockers and lockers, he said.
“We need to be able to defeat any threat that comes into campus,” Israel said.
The sheriff said the school superintendent fully supported his decision.
Stoneman Douglas’ school resource of ce was carrying a weapon when the shooting happened last
week, but did not discharge his rearm. It’s unclear what role he played in the shooting. The sheriff said those details are still being investigated.
At a town hall held by CNN in Sunrise, Florida, on Wednesday night, thousands of angry students, teach- ers and parents booed Republican Sen. Marco Rubio when he indicated that he would not support an assault-weapons ban and applauded Dem. Rep. Bill Nelson when he pushed Rubio to work on a bill that they both could support. They also booed a spokeswoman from the NRA when she said the answer was not to ban weapons but to ensure they stay out of the hands of the mentally ill.
Also Wednesday, teens in at least a dozen South Florida schools walked out of class to protest gun vio- lence and commemorate the shooting victims. About 2,000 students, parents, teachers and supporters held hands and chanted outside the Parkland campus.
Megan Mui, a 15-year-old, walked 2 1⁄2 hours from her school to Stoneman Douglas.
“I want to show my support for the changes we need to make so this never happens again,” she said, adding that she would like to see a ban on weapons like the AR-15. “They should be strictly for military” purposes.
The suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, has been jailed on 17 counts of murder. Defense attorneys, state records and people who knew him indicate that he displayed behavioral troubles for years, including get- ting kicked out of the Parkland school. He owned a collection of weapons.
“How is it possible that this boy that we all knew was clearly disturbed was able to get an assault ri e, military grade, and come to our school and try to kill us?” one 16-year-old student asked the president of the state Senate, Joe Negron.
Negron did not answer directly. “That’s an issue that we’re reviewing,” he said.
When another lawmaker said he supported raising the age to buy assault-style weapons to 21 from 18, the students broke into applause.
Florida lawmakers have rebuffed gun restrictions since Republicans took control of both the governor’s of ce and the Legislature in 1999.
Saying the tragedy at the high school was “completely unavoidable,” Republican legislative leaders say they will consider legislation that will likely call for raising the age limit to purchase a ri e in Florida and increasing funding for mental health programs and school-resource of cers, the police assigned to speci c schools.
Lawmakers are also considering a program promoted by one Florida sheriff that calls for deputizing someone to carry a weapon on campus. Legislators may also enact a waiting period for ri e purchases.