Florida school shooting creates urgent push for gun control

Protestors join in on a grassroots movement during a rally against gun violence in downtown Los Angeles. Photo / AP

The school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has sparked an urgent push for gun control, giving activists cautious hope that politicians might be willing to take some type of bipartisan action - action that has been elusive after previous mass shootings.

Student survivors, some of whom made terrifying videos of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last Thursday as their classmates died, are now forcefully speaking out for gun control, demanding that not another student face a similar fate. They hope to be the catalyst that breaks entrenched positions on guns in US society, and there appears to be some early movement in Washington.

President Donald Trump said yesterday that he is open to improving the background check system used to screen those who buy firearms, a measure that has bipartisan support and the backing of the National Rifle Association. Trump spoke about the legislation with one of its co-sponsors, Republican Senator John Cornyn, on Saturday.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said he supports gun violence restraining-order laws, which allow firearms to be seized before a person commits a violent act. The laws have been gaining conservative backers in the wake of the Parkland shooting, which killed 17 people, most of them teenagers.

"Trump's support for the FixNICS Act, my bill with @JohnCornyn, is another sign the politics of gun violence are shifting rapidly," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeted yesterday, adding that the bill alone is not an adequate response to mass shootings.

Students are calling out politicians and the NRA on social media, on television and at rallies, demanding laws that will help keep guns out of the hands of people like Nikolas Cruz, the alleged shooter. Cruz, a 19-year-old who was known to be a risk for violence and who state officials knew intended to buy a gun, allegedly carried an assault-style rifle into Douglas High School on Thursday and opened fire without warning. One student who survived vowed not to return to class until gun laws change.

The NRA has not responded to requests for comment since the shooting.

Nikolas Cruz appears in court for a status hearing. Photo / AP

Cruz had purchased at least 10 guns, including a variant of an AK-47, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. While authorities are still looking into how he got his weapons, all of the ones they have traced so far were legally purchased by Cruz, according to the official. Cruz legally bought the AR-15 assault-style rifle he allegedly used in the shooting about a year ago, authorities have said.

"At no point was he prohibited from possessing firearms based on his criminal history and background check," the official said.

John Feinblatt, president of the gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety, said he is hopeful that the shooting will spur bipartisan momentum on gun safety measures. He said the country expects its leaders to work together.

"But if they don't, the states are going to take up where Congress lets off, and the American public is going to make sure we see a new Congress," Feinblatt said. His group has a new campaign called Throw Them Out, with the goal of voting out politicians the group says are beholden to the gun lobby.

Five states - California, Washington, Oregon, Indiana and Connecticut - have passed gun violence restraining-order laws, which allow firearms to temporarily be taken away from people whom a judge deems a threat to themselves or others. Federally, Democrats Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Salud Carbajal introduced legislation last year urging states to adopt such laws. At least 18 states, including Florida, have similar bills pending in their legislatures. It is unclear if such a law would have stopped Cruz from buying a weapon.

Cruz, who is facing 17 counts of premeditated murder, returned to court yesterday. His head bowed, hands shackled at his waist and wearing a red, jail-issued jumpsuit, he showed no emotion during the procedural session in Fort Lauderdale.