Against the cannons: America's youth gets up
School massacres are a bitter daily routine in the USA
Seventeen people were shot by a former student on Valentine's Day at Florida's Stoneman Douglas High School. But the rampage was not an isolated case. In the US, massacres are almost on the agenda. Already in the first one and a half months of this year, there were 18 killing sprees at US schools.
Emma Gonzalez (18) delivered a well-publicized rant against gun lobbyism
Shortly after the tragedy in Florida, some voices of surviving students were already rising against the highly weapon-friendly Trump administration.
At the weekend, the individual voices swelled to an angry chorus: The twelfth grader Emma Gonzalez, who had to witness the massacre, held a fierce rant against gun lobbyism at a demonstration for tighter gun laws in Fort Lauderdale. She called:
"To all politicians who take money from the NRA: 'Shame on you!'"
The NRA is the powerful National Rifle Association of America, which acts as a lobby group in the US, regularly donating large sums to politicians and parties, including US President Donald Trump.
Emma Gonzalez complained that the elected politicians did not do their job to protect the people, and that the students will now take over this job. Politicians and lobbyists threatened them:
"We'll do the dirty work - and we'll make it good!"
Planned is a big anti-weapons march in Washington
More and more students are in solidarity with the survivors of Florida. They no longer want to be a potential target for amok shooters in schools. With all their might they demand stricter gun laws.
Cameron Kasky, 17, a classmate of Emma Gonzalez, set up the Facebook page Never Again, where students can organize. "Stay with us on this journey, which will be a true revolution," someone wrote there. "We want to protect the children and make sure that never again does a city have to mourn like ours."
The rapid-fire weapon the Florida gunman used to kill 17 people is easy to get - and has already gained notoriety as the most popular weapon of amok shooters.
For March 24, students have now called for an anti-gun march in Washington. America's teachers want to follow a general strike - on April 20, the 20th anniversary of the Columbine massacre.
