The event aired Wednesday night, one week after a gunman opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people.
- Students, parents, educators, and the NRA gathered under one roof on Wednesday night to talk about how best to move forward, one week after a mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school claimed 17 lives.
- The town-hall style event hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper follows days of heated discourse over gun rights in America.
- President Donald Trump held a listening session with school-shooting survivors earlier Wednesday, but declined an invite to attend the town hall, CNN said, though he has indicated his willingness to explore new gun-reform options.
A town-hall meeting held in Sunrise, Florida, on Wednesday night brought together students, parents, educators, politicians, and the NRA under one roof to talk about ways to move forward, one week after the February 14 school shooting that ended the lives of 17 people.
The event, hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper, comes after days of heated discourse around gun rights in America. That discussion focused acutely on whether laws should be changed in order to help prevent mass shootings. Such incidents have increased in regularity in the US over the past two decades.
Dubbed "Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action," the town hall opened with a tribute to the 17 people who were killed in the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Within the first five minutes, Bill Nelson, the Democratic senator from Florida, called for "getting assault rifles off the streets," prompting a standing ovation.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida followed Nelson, acknowledging the shortcomings of his own party with regard to gun-law reform, and lamenting the fraught political discourse currently roiling the US. Rubio soon got an earful from Fred Guttenberg, the father of a 14-year-old girl who was killed in the Parkland, Florida, shooting.
Guttenberg told Rubio that his words and those of President Donald Trump on the matter of gun violence have been "pathetically weak."
Trump earlier Wednesday floated the possibility of arming teachers as a deterrent. The idea received mixed reactions, including from a Stoneman Douglas High School teacher, Ashley Kurth, who asked Rubio for his thoughts on the proposal. Rubio said he does not support it. Sen. Nelson echoed the same.
Kurth, who is a pro-gun, pro-Trump voter, urged Trump and congressional leaders last week to take action on gun reform.
In another particularly heated exchange, a student confronted Rubio, asking him to say whether or not he would accept campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association. Rubio did not answer the question, prompting some jeers from the audience. The senator insisted that his campaign donors buy into his agenda, and asserted that he does not serve theirs.
Rubio took several blows during the event, but he also staked out positions on a number of gun-rights issues. He said he supports raising the minimum age required to buy certain guns saying, "I absolutely believe that in this country if you are 18 years of age, you should not be able to buy a rifle."
Rubio also said he would reconsider his previous positions on high-capacity magazines, insisting "we can reach a compromise" on that matter. Lawmakers have argued that restricting large magazine clips, effectively limiting the number of bullets a gunman can shoot before they have to reload, could save lives. Rubio echoed the point, but conceded that "it may not prevent an attack."
Student survivors of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas have been especially vocal in the days after the attack, and that remained true at Wednesday night's town hall. They challenged lawmakers to answer for their actions, or lack thereof, on gun-law reform.
"Will my school campus be safe when I return," one student asked. In response, Florida Rep. Ted Deutch said state law-enforcement officials, school administrators, and "everyone who's focused on school security" would ensure student safety.
Deutch also made a broader point, urging federal lawmakers to follow through on legislation banning bump stocks and beefing up background checks for gun purchases — two proposals Trump has touted this week.