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Florida Students Anti-Gun Rally Spreads

by VOA News

   Hundreds of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
   Parkland, Florida, rallied Wednesday at the Florida Capitol in
   Tallahassee to pressure lawmakers to approve tougher gun control laws
   one week after one of the most deadly U.S. school shootings.

   A gunman killed 17 people at the Parkland school, triggering a wave of
   protests by students in Tallahassee and elsewhere in the U.S. Teachers
   and Florida state representative Sean Shaw joined the students on the
   grounds of the capitol, where the Democratic lawmaker criticized a
   state House vote Tuesday along party lines against a bill to ban
   assault weapons. The vote drew the ire of student shooting survivor
   Florence Yared, who directed her comments to lawmakers who voted
   against the measure.

   "Your children might become victims, too," Yared said. "You have the
   power to change this, and if you don't we will change you! We will vote
   you out," she said emphatically to cheers and applause.

   Student survivor Ryan Deitsch told the Tallahassee crowd, "The more
   [the lawmakers] don't act, the more they don't deserve to be in office.
   I can vote, and I know who I am not voting for!"

   In Photos: High School Students Protest in Tallahassee