South Florida Sun Sentinel By Skyler Swisher Feb 11, 2021
Three years after the Parkland school shooting, gun control activists are optimistic that thoughts and prayers finally will be traded for concrete action.
Virginia Tech. Sandy Hook. Pulse. Las Vegas. Parkland. Those words have become shorthand for the darkest days in America’s gun violence epidemic.
But after the initial outrage faded, Congress moved on without passing reforms desired by gun control activists. Calls for universal background checks and a ban on military-style weapons went unheeded. Today, the pandemic is the dominant issue facing politicians and motivating voters. Meanwhile, gun violence spiked in 2020, and firearm sales are hitting record numbers.
Advocates are hoping recently elected President Joe Biden and the Democratic Congress will act. Gail Schwartz, chairwoman of Ban Assault Weapons Now, said weapons designed for war need to be banned for civilian use as they are in other countries.
“We didn’t do it after the Pulse nightclub shooting, when 49 of our fellow Floridians were slaughtered,†said Schwartz, whose 14-year-old nephew Alex Schachter was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “We didn’t do it after Parkland, when our kids and our educators, 17, were slaughtered. But we must do it now.â€
More:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-parkland-anniversary-gun-legislation-ss-prem-20210211-xhqpbqpucbbjnbxl5nkummoq2y-story.html