Survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last Wednesday have vowed to march on Washington to embarrass politicians in the sway of America’s powerful gun lobby.
The mass shooting in Florida left 17 dead and 15 wounded. It is the 18th gun-related incident in the US this year and the country’s 30th mass shooting. And we are only in February.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He is alleged to have set off a fire alarm before shooting at victims as they left classrooms. Cruz fled the massacre and was arrested 2 miles away an hour after the shooting spree.
Three more victims of the shooting rampage were buried yesterday including the Geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35, dubbed a hero for his efforts to shield students from gunfire.
But it’s the surviving students’ efforts that are making headlines. the pupils have been holding daily gun control rallies.
Even Republican politicians are beginning to join Democrat lawmakers calls for urgent gun controls to prevent this happening again.
The pupils are planning to hold a gun control #MarchForOurLives on Washington next month and they are calling for a nationwide school walkout in April to shame politicians whose coffers flow with donations from National Rifle Association affiliated lobbyists.
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According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics estimates, in the 2016 election, the NRA and its affiliates spent a record $54m on Republican control of the White House and Congress, with at least $30.3m going to help elect Donald Trump.
The NRA spent $6 million in TV ads alone on behalf of US President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, more than the Trump campaign spent on itself.
The president was slammed in December when he spent the fifth anniversary of the notorious Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings without mention, instead inviting the CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA) – America’s chief gun lobbyist for Whitehouse Christmas drinks.
Just three days after last week’s tragedy in Parkland, Florida, less than 50 miles North, hundreds attended a gun show in Florida where AR-15’s were on sale to over-18’s – the same rifle used in the school shooting.