Nearly five hours away from the Florida State Capitol, Logan Rubenstein’s phone flashed with news headlines. There was another school shooting –– this time, in Santa Clarita, California.
Rubenstein, a 15-year-old sophomore at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was brought back to Feb. 14, 2018 — the day a mass shooting occurred at the school, killing 17 people.
While on his way to Tallahassee to advocate for ending gun violence on Thursday, Rubenstein, the deputy policy director for March for Our Lives Florida, said he was once again reminded of the urgency for a change in gun laws.
“The sight of SWAT escorting kids out of school … it's the same emotions, it's the same thing my friends experienced on February 14, 2018,” he said. “We need to keep fighting it.”
About 50 people from March for Our Lives groups from across the state traveled en masse to Tallahassee to formally announce their Peace Plan for a Safer Florida, a six-step plan to prevent gun violence in Florida which was previously introduced via social media.
The Orlando, Parkland, Tampa, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Ocala branches of March for Our Lives attended the event, which included a press conference, demonstration and hand delivery of the plan to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.
The plan pulls from the national group’s Peace Plan for a Safer America. Some bills included a call for:
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Expanded background checks to include ammunition
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Revising prohibition on sale or transfer of firearms to persons convicted of domestic violence offenses
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Requiring a background check to be run on all sales of ammunition
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Banning the sale of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines
Alexander Brailsford, a 19-year-old UF political science freshman, said Florida’s leaders aren’t offering solutions for an end to gun violence. By going to Tallahassee, he hoped to give Florida’s politicians a push.
“3,000 people are killed per year — that's one every three hours,” he said. “Hopefully we can work with the government and with organizations and community-based groups to limit this gun violence.”
Groups from across the state, with the exception of Gainesville March for Our Lives, traveled to Tallahassee in buses funded by money raised through a GoFundMe created on Nov. 4. The GoFundMe, created by 13-year-old Zoe Weissman, raised about $2,000 for transportation.
Weissman, the March for Our Lives Florida fund developer, also runs the March for Our Lives chapter at her school, American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida.
She said while she was always aware of the change March for Our Lives created, she thought she was too young and “didn’t have enough power to create change.”
“That all changed this summer after the wave of mass shootings that we had,” she said. “I decided I shouldn't stay silent.”
Weissman said beyond wanting these laws passed, she wants DeSantis himself to push for these laws to be passed. Advocates understand that gun violence will be heavily discussed during the legislature, which starts in January.
“We can cut the rate of gun violence in half in 10 years, but all it takes is for our legislators to go out and step into their chambers and pass the laws,” she said. “And that's what we're here advocating for.”
Sen. Gary Farmer (D) said that gun violence is a public health emergency and that legislators should treat it as such. “The time to act is now,” he said.
Students and activists demonstrated inside the Florida State Capitol building Thursday, holding filled-in signs representing what the Peace Plan for a Safer Florida means to them.
