Parkland Shooting Survivors Don't Want Thoughts And Prayers -- They Want Action

Florida school shooting survivors push for gun control

Survivors of the recent Florida school shooting don’t want your thoughts and prayers. They want action — and they want it right now. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are speaking up on social media about the importance of gun control. Their stories are heartbreaking and their message is so, so important.

After an armed former student tore through a Florida school’s campus and killed 17 people, some politicians and conservative commentators have been offering up thoughts, prayers — and not much else. When Donald Trump took to the podium to publicly address the tragedy, he zeroed in on mental health issues and completely ignored the issue of gun control. Other Republican politicians offered up vague platitudes on social media but, again, didn’t say much else in the way of enacting change. Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren went as far as accusing the left of politicizing the tragedy.

Survivors of the shooting shot back to Lahren’s tweet and perfectly illustrated why this issue is, indeed, about guns.

Carly later told Buzzfeed News that she wanted to give Lahren her own take on the tragedy — having experienced it herself.

“I was just thinking about how I was literally involved in the shooting and I was talking about gun control … I just don’t understand why we can’t mourn and use our voice to speak out at the same time,” she explained. “I just wanted to give a first-hand answer to her, so she could understand that this is what we need to talk about.”

Other students demanded action from the government, particularly in the wake of Trump’s vague condolences.

Cameron Kasky, a student who was locked inside a classroom that day, decided to take his message beyond the 140 character limit. He penned a long, fiercely powerful message on Facebook, and slammed Congress members who are sitting idly by.

“[Marco] Rubio and [Rick] Scott are about to send their thoughts and prayers. Those guys are garbage and if you voted for them, go to hell. You’re just as bad as they are,” he wrote. “…Please don’t pray for me. Your prayers do nothing. Show me you care in the polls. Anyone who is reading this is luckier than many people today. Remember that.”

Yup, sounds exactly right. Let’s listen to these survivors, and let’s see some action. Not later. Immediately.