Florida shooting survivors rally for stricter gun controls
Survivors of a Florida school shooting that left 17 people dead are marching in the state capital to press lawmakers to take more action on gun control.
Dozens of students packed into a room at the statehouse to meet legislators.
It is the first organised protest of the youth-led anti-gun movement that has swept the US since the attack.
Thousands of Florida students walked out of their classrooms in solidarity with survivors on Wednesday morning, according to local media reports.
There were also reports that hundreds of students from Maryland travelled to the US Capitol in Washington during the school day to call for gun reform.
“We’re here to ask for change and we’re confident change will happen,” said Noah Kaufman, 16, “We know the issues, and we know who is with us and who isn’t.”
Kaylie Jones from Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida is among the students marching in solidarity with survivors
Many students told US media they stayed awake overnight to research legislation and write speeches.
The students arrived on Tuesday as the state legislature rejected a ban on assault rifles like the one used in the attack. They grilled the state senate president Joe Negron on Wednesday over assault rifle regulations, who said it was “an issue we’re going to look at as we work to develop legislation”.
Under pressure to act, President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed a move to ban devices that can enable rifles to shoot hundreds of rounds a minute. This bump-stock accessory was used by a gunman in Las Vegas to kill 58 concert-goers last year.
The president will host students and teachers at the White House on Wednesday for a “listening session” on gun control.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced it would participate in a town hall that will be broadcast on CNN on Wednesday evening, according to the network.
What is the #NeverAgain movement?
It was born out of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland one week ago, the second-deadliest school shooting in US history.
For the first time, articulate student survivors of the attack have broken into the much debated topic of gun violence and gun controls, says the BBC’s Barbara Plett in Tallahassee.
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Student Tyra Hemans met Florida representative Wengay Newton after arriving in Tallahassee
Wednesday’s demonstration is their first organised protest aimed at putting pressure on legislators to ban assault-style rifles, similar to the semi-automatic AR-15 model used by the gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz.
Several students took centre stage at an emotionally charged rally in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, with high school student Emma Gonzalez attacking President Trump and other politicians for accepting political donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful gun rights lobby group.
The movement has drawn support from celebrities such as George and Amal Clooney, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, who have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund a planned march on gun control in Washington on 24 March.
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Are legislators doing anything about gun controls?
Gun ownership is protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution and under federal law, people must be at least 21 years old to purchase a handgun but they only need to be 18 to buy a rifle or a shotgun.
But federal law only states the minimum standards for gun control and individual states can use their own laws to regulate the use of firearms by providing further restrictions or making them more lenient.
On Tuesday, Florida’s Republican-controlled state house of representatives rejected a Democratic motion to ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. It is considering a package of more limited gun restrictions, but it only has until 9 March to act before its current session ends.
During this session, the state legislature has already approved two bills that would provide broader access to guns. But there are signs of change – since last week’s attack state Senator Bill Galvano has called for the age limit for purchasing assault rifles to be raised from 18 to 21.
The White House also signalled on Tuesday it was considering raising the minimum age for people buying AR-15-type assault rifles – the current age limit in most states is 18.
The students on Wednesday will demand that Florida legislators use the remaining three weeks to revise state mental health and gun laws.
Is Trump addressing the concerns?
The US president on Tuesday instructed the justice department to propose a law to make bump stock accessories, which allow semi-automatic rifles to fire as rapidly as machine guns, illegal.
The device was not seen in the Florida shooting, but it was used by Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old gambler, who rained bullets on the crowd at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in October.
It can be bought for as little as $100 (£70) without the need for a criminal background check.
More than 500 people were also injured in that attack, the worst ever mass shooting in the US by a lone gunman.
Bipartisan efforts to introduce a ban on such devices in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre have stalled.
Mr Trump also said over the weekend he was supportive of a bipartisan bill that seeks to improve the checks in place before someone can buy a gun.
Failures in the FBI’s background check system were exposed by the Florida shooting, committed by a man with a history of mental health issues.
Previous efforts to introduce gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings in recent years have gone nowhere in the US Congress.
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