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Parkland Parents Travel To Tallahassee To Reinforce Students' Message For More Gun Control

Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School aren't the only ones mobilizing for change after the mass shooting that left 17 students and faculty dead on the school grounds. 

 

A group of about 50  Parkland and Coral Springs parents met in front of the Marriott Heron Bay Golf Resort Monday morning. This was where they also gathered on Feb. 14 to wait for news of their children. 

 

Now this community’s parents are headed to Tallahassee to echo the students who asked state lawmakers for more gun control.  

Congressman Ted Deutch spoke with parents who were about to bus to Tallahassee to lobby for gun control policies Monday morning.
Credit Caitie Switalski / WLRN
/
The Florida Channel
Congressman Ted Deutch spoke with parents who were about to bus to Tallahassee to lobby for gun control policies Monday morning.

Congressman Ted Deutch met the bus of parents to answer questions and wave them off to the state capital.

Shelbie Seys is the Parkland mom who organized this trip. She has three kids in the Parkland school system.

“It’s going to be a long time before I don’t have to worry about my children’s safety in these schools,” said Seys. “This is important, to go there and make changes now, because no kid should go to school in fear.”

Ranee Schafer is a close family friend of one of the victims. She says she's looking to do something in the aftermath of the shooting to prevent this from happening again. 

“At this point, we as a country need to come together and focus on our children and our children’s safety,” Schafer said. “Everybody has different views at this point and everybody has a different idea of what the solution is, but we have to put all of our agendas aside.” 

The group is set to meet and dine with lawmakers in Tallahassee, where they will also hold a "light the night" vigil in remembrance of the victims killed at the Stoneman Douglas High mass shooting

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Around 50 Parkland and Coral Springs parents packed a charter bus Monday morning, to be in Tallahassee to meet with lawmakers on gun control policies.
Caitie Switalski / WLRN
/
The Florida Channel
Around 50 Parkland and Coral Springs parents packed a charter bus Monday morning, to be in Tallahassee to meet with lawmakers on gun control policies.

Caitie Switalski is a rising senior at the University of Florida. She's worked for WFSU-FM in Tallahassee as an intern and reporter. When she's in Gainesville for school, Caitie is an anchor and producer for local Morning Edition content at WUFT-FM, as well as a digital editor for the station's website. Her favorite stories are politically driven, about how politicians, laws and policies effect local communities. Once she graduates with a dual degree in Journalism and English,Caitiehopes to make a career continuing to report and produce for NPR stations in the sunshine state. When she's not following what's happening with changing laws, you can catchCaitielounging in local coffee shops, at the beach, or watching Love Actually for the hundredth time.