Tallahassee, Fla. (AP) – Last week’s student survivors Fatal shooting at Florida State University On Tuesday he urged state legislators to block the effort. Turning the law back Then passed 2018 Parkland School Shooting This reduced the age of purchasing state guns from 21 to 18.
A few days after the gunman It terrified the university In Tallahassee’s state capital, students travelled to the Capitol to appeal to lawmakers to take action to protect them from gun violence.
“When I transferred to Florida State last fall, I didn’t think I was trapped in the classroom and texting my loved ones.
“We owe it to the victims to make sure this never happens again, not just here at Florida State University, but across Florida and our country,” Perez said.
The shooting on Thursday killed two non-student men and injured six men on the FSU campus. This is about a mile (1.6 km) from Capitol Building, where lawmakers are in the final week of the annual session.
Investigators said Student suspect During the FSU shooting, 20-year-old Phoenix Echner used his previous service weapons from his stepmother, a sheriff’s deputy. Ichner was shot dead and wounded by police, but is expected to survive.
The student remains hospitalized and will not be formally charged until he is released, Tallahassee Police Department spokesman Lt. Col. Damon Miller Jr. said Tuesday. “There’s no timeline for that,” Miller said in a phone interview.
On Tuesday, FSU students stood alongside the Democrats in the Capitol to talk about their fears that this would be the final message for their families, whispering to their cell phones, “I love you,” as they cuddled up in the dark classroom.
“We barricaded ourselves that day with just chairs,” said 22-year-old senior Natanel Mizrahi. “We had no locks on our door. Instead, our brave students were standing near the entrance in more chairs to try and do what they could to stop the attacker who would become the attacker.”
Students have called on lawmakers to refuse pushes to allow adults under the age of 21 to purchase firearms, ensure that there are door locks in university classrooms, and allocate funds for campus mental health resources and active shooter training.
In a statement, FSU spokesman Amy Farnham Patronis said active shooter training is optional and open to all students and employees, but is not currently required for employees.
“Ensuring the safety and well-being of our campus community remains our number one priority. Florida State University is continuously reviewing and assessing security protocols, including door lock ratings, to ensure the safety of everyone on campus,” Farnum-Patronis said.
For some FSU students, that’s it It wasn’t the first time They were hurt by school shootings. For a small group, there was a sight left behind by students who had abandoned laptops and book bags that had escaped for their own life. A tough reminder Of the shootings, they survived at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Seventeen people were killed and 17 were injured there.
After that shooting, student survivors and grieving families crowded the Florida Capitol Extraordinary lobbyingsuccessfully pushing Republican-run Congress to pass new gun control measures.
In this session, lawmakers are considering bills to expand gun rights and roll back several restrictions, including declining age with guns. Gov. Ron DeSantis and some Republican lawmakers support the measure, saying that if a person is old enough to be in the military, they should be able to buy a gun.
The bill has the support of House Speaker Daniel Perez, but Senate Speaker Ben Albritton was even more hesitant about the measure, even before the shooting at FSU.
Speaking to reporters in March, Albritton got emotional after talking about his visit to the Parkland High School building. He said he is a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, but he has not made a decision on the measure.
___ Associated Press authors Curt Anderson of Tampa and Stephany Matat of West Palm Beach contributed to this report. Payne is a legional member of the Associated Press/Reports’ American State University News Initiative. American Report It is a non-profit, national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms and reports on secret issues.
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