Cameron Kasky, David Hogg, Emma Gonzalez, Alex Wind and Jaclyn Corin, survivors of the Valentine’s Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida spoke to “Fox News Sunday.” They have set a date for everyone, from politicians to parents, to hold a discussion on gun control.
“Please stop allowing us to be gunned down in our hallways,” Gonzalez, a high school senior, told “Fox News Sunday.” “People are telling us that we should run for president, but we want an education.”
Anger focused on lawmakers and the NRA
The students are angry, just as students and parents across the nation are angry at the lack of action by the federal government, and have specifically called out the National Rifle Association. “We are organizing it so students everywhere can beg for our lives,” said Cameron Kasky, a junior at the high school.
“We are giving all our politicians a clean slate and in the next election, we are saying if you are accepting money from the NRA there is a badge of shame on you because you are enabling things like this to happen. And Kasky added, “At the end of the day, the NRA is fostering and promoting this gun culture.”
“One of the things we’ve been hearing is it’s not the time yet to talk about gun control. And we respect that. We’ve lost 17 lives, and our community took 17 bullets to the heart, and it’s difficult to come back from that. So here’s the time we’re going to talk about gun control,” Kasky said.
Kasky said the March 24 rallying march on Washington and in other cities across the nation will bring more public awareness to the need for gun control.
We are begging for our lives
The student organizers also spoke with ABC News’ “This Week” Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday. The demonstration next month is being called the “March For Our Lives,” said the organizers.
In the March for our lives mission statement, the students make a poignant plea – Gun control should not be a political football because children’s lives are not red or blue, Democrat or Republican. “No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than the timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.”
“Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear,” and as Kasky put it so eloquently, students everywhere across the nation are “begging for our lives.”