Patch.com: ” Parkland Survivors Take Gun Control Message To Florida Capital”
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The following is an excerpt from an article posted in Patch.com in Feb 2018:
“TALLAHASSEE, FL — One hundred Stoneman Douglas High School survivors bade a final farewell to several of their classmates on Tuesday and then headed to Florida’s state capital ahead of Wednesday’s one-week anniversary of the horrific Parkland school massacre that killed 17 and wounded numerous others. The students are demanding changes to the state’s gun laws that allowed the accused gunman to purchase an AR-15 assault rifle. Governor Rick Scott also called a series of meetings on Tuesday among education officials, child welfare advocates and law enforcement agencies.
The teenagers were making the 400-mile trip by bus after attending three more funerals for victims of the tragedy in services held on Tuesday.
While traveling to Tallahassee, the students received word that the Florida House of Representative refused to consider a bill that would ban assault rifles. The vote was 71 to 36 against the motion.
The students plan to hold a rally Wednesday in hopes that it will put pressure on the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to consider a sweeping package of gun-control laws, something some GOP lawmakers said they would consider. Shortly after the shooting, several legislative leaders were taken on a tour of the school to see the damage firsthand and they appeared shaken afterward.
Scott called for the resignation of the FBI director last week after the agency acknowledged that it received a tip about accused Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz on Jan. 5 but failed to follow “established protocols.” Scott is also calling on the FBI to “immediately release all details surrounding the bureau’s failure to act on a tip it received, including all details and protocols.”
The Florida agency responsible for protecting vulnerable adults received permission from a Broward County judge on Monday to release records related to Cruz. The records stem from contacts the agency had with Cruz as an adult back in 2016. In Florida, this responsibility falls under the Adult Protective Services division of the Department of Children and Families or DCF.
Meanwhile, a group called Islamic Relief USA has budgeted up to $50,000 to help families of victims with $200 cash cards. The amount for each family will vary, according to the organization’s Minhaj Hassan, who said that similar programs were put in place following the Las Vegas mass shooting and the California wildfires.
“Our main focus is to try to make sure that during this very difficult time during this tragedy we’re there to provide them with support, both emotional and financial,” Hassan told Patch. The Alexandria, Virginia-based organization is dispensing the cards at a family support center in the amphitheater at 10561 Trails End, Parkland. ”
Read the full post on Patch.com
