ByDaniel Uria (0)
Feb 14: Third anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead
WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US President Joe Biden called on Congress to enact “commonsense gun law reforms” on Sunday, the third anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets,” Biden said in a statement remembering the 17 people — 14 students and three staff — killed by a gunman in the Feb 14, 2018 shooting.
“This administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call,” said Biden. “We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer.”
“The Parkland students and so many other young people across the country who have experienced gun violence are carrying forward the history of the American journey. It is a history written by young people in each generation who challenged prevailing dogma to demand a simple truth: we can do better. And we will,” said Biden.
The Parkland school shooting claimed 17 lives on Feb 14, 2018, evoking the surge of a nationwide call for gun safety reform.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on Sunday and filed paperwork to create a “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Memorial Day” to be observed annually beginning on Feb 14, 2022.
“Our state and nation will never forget February 14, 2018,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter. “We remember the 17 innocent lives that were lost on that tragic day. Their legacies will endure.”
Many of the student survivors and their families engaged in activism calling for gun reform following the shooting, spawning the national “March For Our Lives” movement.
In the months after the shooting Sen. Rick Scott, then the governor of Florida, signed $400 million of legislative reforms for school security, mental health and gun control. The legislation bans the use of bump stocks — devices that allow the rapid firing of certain firearms — increased the minimum rifle purchasing age from 18 and 21, and instituted a three-day waiting period on all firearm purchases.
Other states also passed similar legislation in the following months to expand background checks, ban bump stocks and limit magazines among other restrictions.
Family members of the victims, led by Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the shooting, created a series of “shame cards” to send to Congress in order to hold lawmakers to task for a lack of federal action on gun control since the shootings.
Gunman Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school, faces 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the shooting. His case was delayed in late December 2019 and has faced further delays in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — NNN-AGENCIES
