Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School speak with Florida state legislators, following last week's mass shooting on their campus, in Tallahassee, Florida. (REUTERS/Colin Hackley)
Tallahassee, Florida/Washington: Dozens of teenaged survivors of the second-deadliest public school shooting in US history marched on Florida's capital on Wednesday to ask lawmakers to ban sales of assault rifles of the sort used to kill 17 students and educators last week.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, became the latest school targeted by a gunman using a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle, stirring the nation's long-running debate about gun rights and public safety.
Dressed in jeans and T-shirts and carrying signs with the slogan "#Neveragain," survivors of the February 14 mass shooting met with lawmakers in Tallahassee, to ask for stricter controls on gun sales.
Investigators said the assault was carried out by 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz, who purchased an AR-15 nearly a year ago. Police have charged Cruz, who had been kicked out of Douglas for disciplinary problems, with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
"We want to see some common sense gun laws so this will never happen again," said Rachel Padnis, a 16-year-old sophomore from the school near Fort Lauderdale.
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