Florida's House of Representatives has made it clear that their loyalty to the gun lobby outweighs any sense of responsibility they may have to protect their state's schoolchildren.
Even with survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting present in the gallery, the Florida House voted down a motion that would have taken up a ban on assault weapons by a 36-71 margin, according to the Associated Press. The AR-15, which was the gun used by Nikolas Cruz in the shooting spree that left 17 dead at the Parkland school, was among the weapons that would have been impacted by the proposed motion.
While the Florida House was unable to bring itself to take action to regulate guns, they apparently felt that pornography was a more urgent issue. The House Republicans passed a resolution declaring pornography to be dangerous and a "public health risk." That bill's sponsor, Republican Ross Spano, said that porn leads to "mental and physical illness."
As pictures circulated of the teenagers weeping over the Republican-controlled House's indifference to their physical safety, many conservatives — led by Dinesh D'Souza — were unable to contain their glee.
Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, also piled on — liking tweets that pushed a conspiracy that one of the Parkland shooting survivors advocating for gun control was somehow being manipulated by the FBI, according to Newsweek.
One message described the teenager, David Hogg, as "the kid who has been running his mouth about how Donald Trump and the GOP are teaming to help murder high school kids by upholding the Second Amendment," before adding that Hogg was "the son of an FBI agent." Another message liked by Trump Jr. was written by someone calling himself Graham Ledger, who speculated, "This student is running cover for his dad who Works as an FBI agent at the Miami field office."
D'Souza and Trump have hardly been acting alone. Right-wing conspiracy theories about the Parkland victims being fake or having been hijacked by left-wing groups have been circulating the internet since the Parkland shooting happened, according to the Miami Herald. Here's what Media Matters had to say about the reaction to the students speaking out.
What’s different about the Parkland shooting is how quickly and powerfully survivors began speaking out. Some students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School immediately took to social media calling on President Donald Trump and Congress to do something about guns and calling out commentators like Fox’s Tomi Lahren for saying now wasn’t the time to talk about guns. David Hogg, a student journalist who interviewed students on lockdown during the shooting, made several TV appearances demanding leaders take action. Another student, Emma Gonzalez, called out the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the legislators who do its bidding. Melissa Falkowski, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, went on CNN calling on Congress to do more to “to end gun violence, to keep our kids safe." Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed, screamed at President Trump on CNN to “do something.” Student survivors are organizing a march on Washington D.C..
In response to accusations like these — that he is being coached by his father or is a crisis actor — Hogg appeared on CNN to tell Anderson Cooper, "I'm not a crisis actor."
He added, "I'm someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that. I'm not acting on anybody's behalf."
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