Hundreds of students gathered on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday calling for lawmakers to take action on guns a month after a deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
“They’re dead,” Alejandro Gutierrez, a student who attended the protest, told The Hill. “It’s because of the access that people have to guns, which should not be allowed.”
Several lawmakers addressed the crowd, expressing their support for students and their pleas for stricter gun laws following the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
“Let us remember the thousands upon thousands of children who have died at the hands of gun violence,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told those gathered.
{mosads}The Hill also spoke to lawmakers inside the Capitol about the status of gun legislation, with Republicans and Democrats split on how to go about stemming gun violence.
“I’m reevaluating everything I’ve been doing on guns,” Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said. “I think the more and more that we see these shootings, the more we’re in a place that we’ve gotta do something.”
“There’s no doubt we need to see a real movement in the United States Congress, and the key to being effective to stop these [shootings] is to target violent criminals,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) maintained.
The House passed legislation Wednesday addressing school safety and security, but it didn’t include any gun measures.