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Parkland shooting survivors are calling ‘BS’ on gun laws and inspiring a nation
That’s why this shooting is different
by Una Dabiero
Last week, America witnessed the 18th school shooting in 2018. The Parkland High School shooting was an outrage we were horrified, but not surprised, to see. 17 people were living their lives as usual before they were murdered by a white man with an AR-15, like hundreds of gun violence victims before them.
But over the weekend, the conversation shifted in a way that makes this shooting feel unfamiliar. This new conversation has somehow broken us out of a drudge where gun violence is something we are desensitized to. Rather than focusing on the shooter, his motivations, or his 'mental illness,' we are talking about the High School survivors. And we're talking about the change they are trying to effect.
One specific High Schooler, Emma Gonzalez, moved the nation on Saturday when she gave a speech about gun control at a rally full of Parkland High Schoolers
She called 'BS' on current attitudes and legislation surrounding guns. "They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call B.S.!," she said, "They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call B.S.! They say guns are just tools like knives and are as dangerous as cars. We call B.S.! They say that no laws could have been able to prevent the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred. We call B.S.! That us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works. We call B.S.!”
Behind her, her classmates and supporters swore they would be "the last school shooting."
Her passion and insight inspired people to look at this shooting differently
And Emma isn't the only survivor voicing the need for change. Parkland students swore to make things different from the day of the tragedy.
In one viral video, 17-year-old David Hogg called for action, reminding Congress, "We're children. You guys are the adults"
And countless survivors have been speaking out on Twitter and met with massive support
With this momentum, they've inspired a March in Washington D.C., and a nation-wide walk out
This level of survivor mobilization hasn't been seen before. The Parkland High School survivors are poised to inspire a movement strong enough to effect real change, by reminding us gun violence isn't normal, it can happen to anyone, and it is something we can change.