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Reuters
MIAMI
Student survivors of a mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Florida high school called for gun restrictions on Saturday during an angry and somber rally, but attendees at a nearby gun show said firearms could not be blamed for the massacre.
Wednesday's shooting in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland fueled the long-running US debate between supporters of tougher controls on firearms and advocates for gun rights, which are protected by the US Constitution's Second Amendment. Both sides of the dispute were on display on Saturday. Many at a rally in Fort Lauderdale that was organized to demand tougher gun laws rejected comments by US President Donald Trump and others that mental illness was the main factor behind the slaughter at Margory Stoneman Douglas High School."We need to pay attention to the fact that this isn't just a mental health issue,"Emma Gonzalez, an 18-year-old student at the school, told hundreds demonstrators gathered on the steps of a federal building. The shooter"wouldn't have harmed that many students with a knife!"she yelled, shedding tears as the crowd cheered her on.
Gonzalez criticized Trump for overturning a measure implemented by former President Barack Obama that required extra scrutiny of some gun buyers with a history of mental illness. She also condemned the National Rifle Association, which opposes laws that it says violate gun owners'rights.
"Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have ever been done to prevent this, we call BS"Gonzalez said. Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School legally purchased the murder weapon from a licensed dealer in Coral Springs, Florida, the Broward County sheriff said.
Representatives for the White House and the NRA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Friday, Trump visited a Florida hospital and met with people wounded in the shooting as well as first responders. Ryan Deitsch, 18, was among those locked in a classroom closet as the shooter stalked the school's corridors.
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19/02/2018
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