DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – A rally was held Monday night in Delray Beach as students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School called on lawmakers to act on gun control.
Teenagers who survived the mass shooting at the Parkland school last Wednesday were among the hundreds who gathered outside City Hall for the #NeverAgain movement.
"I would like to ask every politician how they would feel if their child didn't get to go home, how they would feel if they didn't get to enjoy another meal with their children and how they would feel if they never got to see their child grow up and live a wonderful life," Adam Alhanti, a junior who hid in a closet with classmates during the shooting, told those in attendance.
Seventeen people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured after former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, legally purchased an AK-15 that he used to open fire at the school.
U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel and Ted Deutch, both Democrats, spoke at the rally, echoing the voices of the survivors who called out Florida politicians for accepting donations from the National Rifle Association.
Attendees held signs that read "Ban assault weapons," "Background checks are needed" and "These Republicans will have blood on their hands again if they keep doing nothing about guns," which had pictures of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Republican Gov. Rick Scott on it.
"Whose side are you on?" Deutch said. "Are you on the side of the NRA, the gun corporations, those who put the interests of profits of gun manufacturers ahead of the safety of kids, or are you on the side of those students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas?"
The White House said Monday that President Donald Trump is supportive of efforts to update the nation's background check system for gun purchases.
