'Our government has been useless': Parkland student slams NRA control in emotional #MarchForOurLives speech

A junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School captivated the large crowd at Washington, DC's March for Our Lives Rally with an emotional plea for gun control.

"In the wake of the tragedy on February 14th, we as students, as youth, decided that if adults weren't going to take action, we would," Alex Wind explained.

Wind directly addressed criticism that the students of Parkland are not mature enough to have political goals.

"People believe that the youths have no choice. When Joan of Arc fought back English forces, she was 17 years old. When Mozart wrote his first symphony he was 8 years old," Wind noted. "To those people that tell us that teenagers can't do anything, I say that we were the only people that could have made this movement possible."

And he had harsh words for the gun lobby.

"If teachers start packing heat, are they going to arm our pastors, ministers, and rabbis?" he wondered. "Will they arm the guy selling tickets at the movie theater? This is what the National Rifle Association wants."

"For too long our government has been useless on this issue," Wind continued. "Our job as their constituents is to make sure we know what they're thinking. There are over 250 representatives that have not come out with a public stance on this issue, it is our job to make sure that we call them up and force them out of the shadows of corruption and into the light of justice."

"Now we need to educate ourselves on which politicians are truly working for the people and which ones we want to vote out," he explained. "Because at the end of the day, bullets do not discriminate, so why should we?"

"All it comes down to is life or death. To all the politicians out there, if you take money from the NRA, you have chosen death," Wind argued. "If you have not expressed to your constituencies a public stance on this issue, you have chosen death. If you do not stand with us by saying we need to pass common sense gun legislation, you have chosen death."

The high school student also put politicians on notice.

"And none of the millions of people marching in this country today will stop until they see those against us out of office," he promised. "Because we choose life."