After the fatal shooting of her fellow classmates, Emma González rose as a voice in support of stronger gun legislation. Since becoming the face of a movement, she’s surpassed the National Rifle Association in at least one area.
As the nation is roiled by debates over gun control inspired by the Parkland massacre, a Florida gun show held over the weekend had "lines out the door" and "strong sales," according to a New York Times report.
Thousands showed up for a show at the state fairgrounds in Tampa, where they bought guns, ammunition and t-shirts bearing pro-gun slogans. There were Girl Scouts selling cookies outside the show.
According to the Times, some sellers said they did double their normal sales figures.
“It’s sad to say, but whenever there’s a shooting, business only goes up because people are afraid of losing their right to own a certain weapon,” said salesman Quaidman Woody. “So even if they don’t need another AR, they’ll buy another AR or pieces of it.”
AR-15s were being sold at the show by people including Robert Ellie, who custom-makes the weapons at his shop in Fort Myers. Ellie said he uses the semi-automatic war rifle to hunt "wild boars."
"We’ve had the Second Amendment for more than 200 years, but mass shootings are only a recent phenomenon," he told the Tampa Bay Times.
Ironically, the show itself had strict gun control measures. There was two-gun limit for anyone wanting to bring their firearm into the show. Any guns carried in had to have their triggers zip-tied. And it was a no-carry zone, even for licensed concealed carry permit holders who were forced to disarm, leaving their ammunition at home or in their cars.
"MAKE SURE YOUR GUNS ARE UNLOADED AND THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY LOOSE AMMUNITION WITH YOU," the site says. "Safety is our number one priority and can only be maintained if there are NO loaded guns in the show."
Oklahoma Republicans are ready to solve the school shootings—with Jesus and by eliminating violent video games.
"The first thing everybody wants to talk about is gun control," said Rep. Markwayne Mullin.
Instead, Mullin said it was important to look at "the whole situation."
Mullin—the owner of a successful plumbing business, who did not serve in the armed forces or in law enforcement—approaches the problem of school shootings "based experiences I've had in my life."
After the shooting, Mullin had an epiphany upon discovering that his two teenage boys played the first-person shooting game Call of Duty, which is set in World War II.
“I walked upstairs not too long ago. My two boys were playing Call of Duty with my brother-in-law and I looked at it for about three minutes and my palms were sweaty... the graphics are so real that that can't be good. I made them turn it off and they've never gotten to play it since,” said Mullin in a Facebook video made after the Parkland shooting.
"Hollywood elites they always want to go on about gun control, gun control, gun control, they're making millions and billions off exposing our kids, this generation, to violence and glorifying it," he said. "Games that are supposed to be entertainment are desensitizing out kids to the violence, what it's really like."
Fellow Oklahoma Republican Rep. Steve Russell of Oklahoma City, sent out a newsletter after the Florida high school shooting, which said that "we cannot get to a solution simply by going after the tools."
Russell, who owns a rifle manufacturing company, also used the same talking point: Hollywood liberals are to blame for school shootings, because of video games
“It means Hollywood not getting a pass to condemn such acts while perpetuating such behavior on the screen," he wrote. "It means our video gaming industry admitting that they may have a role in altering mental abhorrence to violence and the harming of innocents."
Russell also thinks that bringing Jesus into the classroom can help.
The solution, he wrote: "means our educators being willing to admit that resistance to our Judeo-Christian ethic in teaching respect and morality in the classroom has created untethered generations who struggle to identify what is right and wrong."
Shadi Petosky, creator of the Danger & Eggs animated series, slammed Amazon over the weekend for forcing her to curb her use of liberal talking points but refuse to take NRA TV off the air.
In a tweet on Sunday, Petosky revealed that Amazon had pressured her into deleting tweets supporting feminst ideals when she was creating her show.
She later explained that Amazon had compared feminism to "someone posting pro Trump messages."
Apple, Amazon and Roku have recently come under fire for carrying NRA TV on streaming devices even though the organization opposes any new gun safety regulations that could curb school shootings.
The AR-15, the semiautomatic rifle used in Parkland, Fla., in the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, uses bullets that can cause softball-size exit wounds, leaving behind a significantly larger trail of mangled tissue compared with handgun bullets.
MIAMI — He was chronically depressed, beguiled by firearms and violence, an oddball ostracized by peers and prone to angry outbursts. He experienced, in rapid succession, blows of the sort that can send a disturbed, isolated young man hurtling into a spiral of instability: Forced to move out of his lifelong home, spurned by a girlfriend, bounced from school to school, then suddenly losing his mother, his closest companion, to a fatal illness.
Republican Florida state Rep. Brian Mast revealed on Sunday that he had reversed his position on gun control and is calling for an immediate ban of AR-15s, the type of military-style assault rifle that was used to murder 17 at a school in Parkland, Florida.
During an interview on Face the Nation, CBS host Margaret Brennan noted that Mast had recently had a change of heart on gun control after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
"We've seen a lot of shootings out there," Mast explained. "We've seen what's happened here in Parkland, we've seen what happened in Las Vegas, we saw what happened in Orlando. And for me personally, it pains me to know that I went out there willing to defend country, willing to give everything with almost the exact same weapon that's used to go out there and unfortunately kill children here in Parkland. And I think there's a very real opportunity here for response."
"That's what brought me to my change of heart," he added. "I just can't stand to see that personally."
Mast said that it was important to get President Donald Trump on board with the idea of a temporary ban on AR-15s.
"I can tell you as veterans and soldiers, when we see a chance to save life, we don't hesitate, we don't have a conversation," Mast said. "We go out there and do it. I think that's what [President Trump's] travel ban has been all about. It's been about saving lives in our community and in our country. Let's take that exact same model and apply it right now to this situation."
"Let's put that same kind of pause onboard right now," he continued. "Where we look at who's having access, what do they have access to, what were the failures that went on with the FBI and the AFT and other state agencies and in the states. Let's get back to the American people after this pause with sensible regulations, with sensible solutions."
Mast concluded: "It made sense in the case of terrorists coming into this country. I think it should make sense in looking at guns."
Watch the video below from CBS.
Appearing on MSNBC's AM Joy, a former Breitbart employee who worked with NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch when she wrote for the conservative website, accused her of being an opportunist just looking for a check and maybe a job in Donald Trump's White House.
Kurt Bardella, who served as a spokesperson for Breitbart before leaving over the treatment of a female staffer allegedly assaulted by former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, had little good to say about the current face of the NRA.
"Kurt, what about the demonization, once again by Dana Loesch at CPAC on Thursday saying the media 'likes and loves' mass shootings for a very specific reason?" host Joy Reid asked the former conservative.
"I mean, this is a different dimension of idiocy that we're seeing right now on display from people like Dana. There are no words," Bardella began. "This is someone who clearly frankly has no soul, but is a paid mercenary who is happy to keep cashing a check from the NRA to spread ridiculousness."
"To make the insinuation that anybody, anyone on this planet enjoys covering these types of terrible events .... I think the real controversy here is that the events keep happening and the message they've come up with is we actually need more guns in schools and this will go away," the AM Joy guest continued. "In fact the kids are coming under fire from the crazy right."
"What disturbs me the most," he elaborated, "is when Dana left that conference, she went back to her social circle and she got high-fives from everybody. They're giving her 'You did a great job. Way to go.' Donald Trump probably loved it. He’s probably thinking, ‘I should hire that girl at some some point.’ That’s the biggest toxicity going on, that they’re just talking to one another and fueling this."
Watch the video below via MSNBC:
Parkland mass shooting survivor David Hogg, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, called out NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch on Sunday for representing the gun lobby instead of the organization's 5 million members.
During an interview on ABC, Loesch became enraged over the idea of banning AR-15s or even increasing the minimum purchase age to 21 years old.
Hogg predicted that there would be a change in the way the American public responds to mass shootings because students who had grown up as America was experiencing the epidemic are now old enough to vote.
"Kids are not going to accept this," Hogg explained. "We love to complain about things... We're going to have to look very hard at the foundation of this country."
Hogg also had a message to members of the NRA.
"Listen to Dana [Loesch]," Hogg said, looking directly at the camera. "Is she really speaking to you guys, is she trying to fight for you guys? Or is she actually trying to fight for the gun lobby?"
"Everything she's saying seems like spectacle," he added. "Is it just her tone? Or is it what she's actually saying?"
Watch the video below from ABC.
A father from Parkland, Florida slammed Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday for pressing Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) on gun control instead of focusing on increasing security -- and the number of guns -- at schools.
Andrew Pollack, who is a supporter of President Donald Trump, told Wallace in an interview on Sunday that he was guilty of "polarizing" the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School because he asked Scott about banning military-style assault weapons like the AR-15.
"I just heard what you said, what you're focusing on, polarizing this event, the murder of these kids, you're talking about gun control," Pollack griped. "I just had to listen to you and Gov. Scott talk about gun control. Gun control is a big issue. No one in America is going to come together on control, Chris."
"You didn't say one thing about fixing it"! the father exclaimed. "We can get together on school safety. But when you polarize it, this event and every other media -- we don't care about gun control right now. That's a big issue in the country and you're not going to get everyone together on it."
According to Pollack, Wallace should have spent his time talking about "security for our children."
The Fox News host wondered if Pollack agreed that people with mental health issues should not have access to guns.
"Is that a big issue when we were protecting airports?" Pollack replied, returning to the subject of fortifying schools. "I'm not saying it's not an issue. But when we were protecting our federal buildings, is that a big issue? We have our children in these classes. That's an issue and it could be worked out. But right now, the country just wants to come together and make our schools safe."
Wallace reminded Pollack that three armed deputies who were on the scene at Douglas High School reportedly waited outside the building while the shooter was killing students.
"I'm not trying to think about that stuff because that's just negative," Pollack insisted. "And it's just going to make me toxic so I just want to get the word out to the governors of every state that they have to do something now, today. Get together, they could call me, I have other dead parents here [SIC], we all want to help them. And let's make the schools safe."
Watch the video below from Fox News.
NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch became combative on Sunday when she was asked if her group would back a ban on devices that effectively convert semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons.
During an interview on ABC News, host George Stephanopoulos asked Loesch if the NRA would support President Donald Trump's call to set an age limit of 21 on the sale of semi-automatic weapons.
"The NRA has made their position incredibly clear," Loesch said.
"That's a no," Stephanopoulos pointed out.
"People are trying to find daylight between President Trump and 5 million law-abiding gun owners all across the United States," Loesch said. "These are things he's discussing... nothing has been proposed yet.
"The position is you do not want to raise the age," the ABC host pressed.
"That's what the NRA came out and said," Loesch admitted.
When it came to banning so-called bump stocks, which effectively make semi-automatic rifles into fully-automatic rifles, Loesch said that it was also a non-starter.
"The NRA already made it clear the ATF needs to do their job," the NRA spokesperson opined. "They need to make sure their definitions are consistent."
"The ATF says they don't have the authority right now to ban bump stocks," Stephanopoulos explained. "The president has said he wants those to be banned. Will the NRA back that?"
"The NRA doesn't back any ban," Loesch replied. "The NRA has asked the ATF to do its job and make sure that these classifications are consistent."
When she was asked about banning all military-style assault weapons, Loesch became enraged.
"This is really a discussion about banning all semi-automatic firearms," she complained. "And I wish that we could be guinuine in our discussion about that. That's the position on AR-15s. And AR-15s are going to be in that school protecting students and teachers when they return back to class."
"We are the only country that has wide access to these kinds of weapons and no one else has the frequency or the intensity of mass shootings that we do," Stephanopoulos charged.
"That's actually not true," Loesch stated incorrectly.
Watch the video below.
A number of huge brands are making moves to distance themselves from the National Rifle Association after the gun-owners’ organization came under fire following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
A survivor of the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school is calling on first lady Melania Trump to stop her stepson Donald Trump Jr. from “cyberbullying” after he liked two tweets spreading a conspiracy about her family.
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