Some students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were turned away Wednesday from meetings with the Florida Senate president and other political representatives at the state Capitol in Tallahassee.
“Appointment only,” the students were told.
The students were holding signs saying, “Arms are for hugging,” “Parkland Strong” and “No NRA Money.”
The group of five teenagers said they have been visiting offices at the Capitol hoping to speak with political leaders and representatives. But they’ve been turned away by about six legislators, including an aide to Senate President Joe Negron, and were becoming frustrated by the many closed doors.
“We’ve been heard by other people, but the people here who make the laws aren’t really listening,” said Agu Felman, 16, a junior at Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida, where a gunman killed 17 people in a mass shooting February 14.
About 100 students who survived last week’s massacre boarded buses and traveled from the Fort Lauderdale area to Tallahassee on Tuesday to push for changes they say could help prevent the next school shooting.
“If you’re not with us, you’re against us, and you’re against saving the lives of innocent children,” Chris Grady, a 19-year-old student, said Tuesday. “And we’re going to be voting you out.”