WASHINGTON — A survivor of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting and other young activists are calling on Congress to take immediate action to curb gun violence, including expansion of background checks and banning assault-style weapons.
Seventeen-year-old Aalayah Eastmond recalled hiding underneath the lifeless body of a classmate as a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February. She said Monday that no student should have to “literally dodge bullets to survive” or “have body matter of her classmate picked out of her hair, but I was that student.”
The Parkland shooting left 17 dead and sparked a youth-led movement focused on changing gun laws across the country. Eastmond, a junior, and other students were rallying Monday at the Capitol and lobbying lawmakers to change gun laws.
