Students return to Florida high school after shooting

World
Europe

It was an emotional day Wednesday as students returned to the school in Florida where 17 people were killed two weeks ago by a lone shooter, prompting once again a national debate over gun control.

As President Donald Trump met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, to find a solution to the crisis, two major chain stores – Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods – also took steps to limit access to certain types of weapons and accessories.

Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, were greeted by heavy security and scores of well-wishers as they returned to classes.

Dozens of police officers lined the sidewalk. Former students, neighbors and their children held banners reading "You've Got This" and "We Are With You."

Seventeen people, students as well as teachers, were killed when former student Nikolas Cruz entered the school on Valentine's Day and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.

A parent looks at a makeshift memorial while waiting for her child at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 28, 2018, in Parkland, Florida. /VCG Photo

"It's all a little overwhelming," said 17-year-old student named William, who shared a classroom with two of the victims.

However, 14-year-old Kimberly Miller noted: “It was also refreshing to talk to everyone because people don't really understand how it feels, no matter how much they try to understand."

The shooting inflamed the nation's long-running debate on gun rights but also sparked a youth-led gun control movement featuring survivors of the attack, who have already lobbied lawmakers in Florida's capital Tallahassee and Washington, DC.

Students head back to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 28, 2018, for the first time after a gunman killed 17 students and staff on Valentine's Day. /VCG Photo

On Wednesday, President Trump upped the pressure on lawmakers to get to work, hosting a bipartisan meeting at the White House where he raised eyebrows with his tough stance.

"We have to do something about it. We have to act," he said, voicing support for expanded background checks, more secure schools, curbs on the ability of the mentally ill to buy firearms and raising to 21 the age for buying certain guns.

The Republican president, who was endorsed by the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby in his 2016 campaign, has been wary of angering voters who oppose any curbs on gun ownership, particularly ahead of the November elections in which his party's control of Congress will be at stake.

Guns for sale are seen inside of Dick's Sporting Goods store in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, US, February 28, 2018. /VCG Photo

The debate over how to respond to the school shootings has now pulled in corporate America.

On Wednesday, gun retailer Dick's Sporting Goods Inc said it would no longer sell assault-style rifles, the type of weapon used at Parkland, and would not sell guns to anyone under the age of 21.

Walmart, the largest US retailer, also said that "in light of recent events," it was raising the age for purchasers of firearms and ammunition to 21 from 18 and was removing items from its website that resemble assault rifles, including non-lethal airsoft guns and toys.

The retailer stopped selling assault firearms and accessories in 2015 and only sells handguns in Alaska.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters