UNITED STATES

Survivors of Florida school shooting plan March for Our Lives

March 24, 2018

Teen survivors of the mass shooting on Valentine’s Day at a Florida school and others outraged at political inaction on guns plan massive rallies in Washington DC and other U.S. cities. They blame the National Rifle Association (NRA) for the country’s gun culture.

The students want to make the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 students and teachers, a turning point in the national debate over gun control. The accused shooter is 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school.

Other groups also have announced protests in response to the Florida assault. Organizers of the Women's March held across the nation in Jan 2017 and 2018 called for a 17-minute walkout by teachers nationwide on Mar 14, the one-month anniversary of the high-school attack.

Counter rallies by gun rights supporters can be expected in the capital and elsewhere. President Donald Trump, a recipient of NRA support and a gun rights supporter, has not signaled if he will attend one or both of the rallies. He sees arming teachers as one of several solutions to school shootings, which have become almost commonplace.

The NRA, itself heavily-funded by gun makers, supports the campaigns of politicians who resist gun control legislation.

Actor George Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, have announced that they will walk with the students in the Washington march, and will donate US $500,000 to the rally.

The aim of the marches is to "create a new normal where there’s a badge of shame on any politician who's accepting money from the NRA,” Cameron Kasky, one of the organizers, explained to ABC. “Any politician on either side who is taking money from the NRA is responsible for events like this,” he explained to the broadcaster. “We are going to be marching together as students” in every single city, “begging for our lives.”

The march will also spotlight the spate of school shootings in the United States and the ease with which shooters can obtain the high-powered automatic firearms that have featured in recent mass shootings.

The march will also spotlight Florida’s resistance to gun controls. The biggest beneficiary of NRA support is Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott, according to CNN. He has become a favorite of the Florida gun lobby during the past seven years, according to the broadcaster, by lifting restrictions on guns, preventing doctors from asking patients about their weapons, opposing stricter background checks and cutting the cost of getting a concealed weapon license. CNN reports that 14 Florida lawmakers in the U.S. Congress, all Republicans, accept funds from the NRA.

The Republican President, Donald Trump, also blames the FBI. Angering the organizers of the student march, he asserted in a tweet that the FBI might have been too distracted with a Russia probe to follow leads that could have prevented the massacre.

#22526 Published: February 23, 2018