On February 14th 2018, a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students. The activism that has materialized from survivors following the attack has kept gun reform at the center of political debate. The students of Parkland’s voices are being heard and America as a whole seems to be tuning in to this issue, with a recent CNN poll showing that 70% of respondents support stronger gun laws, which is up from 52% after the Vegas mass shooting in October. The student activism has led companies like Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods to no longer sell guns to anyone under the age of 21 and both are now placing new restrictions on ammunition sales.
Beyond corporations, the students of Parkland have taken their fight to the government, voicing their opinions to politicians like Senator Marco Rubio at a CNN sponsored town hall and to President Trump in a White House meeting. Although the federal government remains hesitant to put forth harsher gun legislation, the students of Parkland are putting unprecedented pressure on the Trump Administration and their activism has already brought massive corporations and the majority of the American people to listen. The survivors of the Parkland shooting are young, driven and looking to bring real progress to the contentious gun reform debate, and for the first time in a while, it seems that the gun debate that has long been at a standstill has finally begun to move.