Governor Ron DeSantis signed the gun measure into law on Monday, making it possible for people in Florida to carry guns without a permit. However, a small number of Florida State University students and people from Tallahassee were still upset on Wednesday.
The rally started at the university’s Westcott Fountain and ended at the Governor’s mansion. One of the adults there was Jacquelyn Valentine, who is from Daytona Beach but has lived in Tallahassee for about three years. She is a member of the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action.
She first joined the group in her hometown in 2016 after her daughter killed herself with a gun in the same year. She adds that someone gave her daughter the gun to protect her, not knowing that she had mental health problems.
Valentine added, “I believe in the right to bear arms, but with education.” “Everyone needs to learn how to use their weapons properly.”
Students Demand Action from FSU, a group that works to end gun violence in America, and members of Moms Demand Action in Florida, a similar grass-roots group that fights for public safety measures that protect people from gun violence across the country, were among the 20 people who showed up to the small rally.
Students Demand Action, a group with members all around the country, called for a “National School Walkout,” which led to the event, which didn’t have a significant attendance. The online post was shared on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media sites.
At the end of the rally, the people who were there sat under the fence of the governor’s mansion for a six-minute moment of silence to remember the three children and three adults who died in the March 27 shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sofia Rodriguez, a second-year FSU student from Broward County who is majoring in criminology and international affairs, says she took part in the demonstration to make sure that her voice is heard and that concerned people are visible.
Rodriguez, a 19-year-old member of FSU’s Students Demand Action, said, “Our lives are much more important than having a gun without a permit.” “We need to do something right away, because if we don’t, nothing will change.”
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