Florida students to march on Washington in call for gun reform

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Students who survived a mass shooting at their Florida school on Sunday announced plans to march on Washington in a bid to tighten gun control.

The "March for Our Lives" will take place on March 24, with other rallies planned across the country, local students said, pledging to make Wednesday's slaughter a turning point in America's deadlocked debate on gun control.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, a troubled former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, confessed to killing 17 people with a legally-purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the latest such atrocity in a country with more than 30,000 gun-related deaths annually.

People mourn in front of flowers and mementos placed in the fence of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the police security perimeter was removed, following a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

As families are burying their loved ones and classes are about to resume, anguish is turning to anger for some of the survivors.

Students have taken to social media to blast defenders of the nation's loose gun laws, under the hashtag #NeverAgain, calling for students from across the nation to march on Washington next month to demand action.

A flag flies at half-mast next to the entrance of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump scheduled a "listening session" with students on Wednesday, and he will meet state and local officials on school safety a day later, according to a White House statement.

Even after last October's killing of 58 people by a gunman in Las Vegas who amassed 47 firearms to commit the worst mass shooting in recent US history, legislators accomplished nothing in the way of tighter controls.

Republican Senator of Florida Marco Rubio has said his state should consider enacting a law that would allow citizens to ask a court to remove guns from a person who poses a danger.

An US flag is seen among flowers and mementos placed in the fence of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

It remains to be seen if any of the gun laws of this nation will actually change. Congress has the last word and it would be up to them to listen to those thousands of students marching in Washington.

(With input from AFP)