USA Today NetworkCaroline Glenn, Florida Today Published 10:41 a.m. ET March 31, 2018 | Updated 10:56 a.m. ET March 31, 2018
MELBOURNE, Fla. — A group of students from Rockledge High School in Brevard County, Fla., briefly walked out of class Friday to show their support for the Second Amendment.
About 75 students, according to a head count by school administrators, walked onto the school's track carrying the American flag and signs that said "guns don't kill people, people kill people" and "I support the right to bear arms." The event lasted about 20 minutes and then students returned to class.
The demonstration was organized by Chloe Deaton, a sophomore, and Anna Delaney, a junior, who are part of Rockledge High's Criminal Justice and Legal Studies Academy.
Deaton — who was wearing a T-shirt that read, "my rights don't end where your feelings begin" — said the event was meant to clear misconceptions about the Second Amendment, not support or oppose any particular political stances.
After the playing of the national anthem and "God Bless America" over the loudspeakers, she told the group of students, "We were built on certain rights and that was one of the original rights, that we should have the right to bear arms."
Delaney read a quote from former President Ronald Reagan, who at a 1983 banquet for the National Rifle Association said, "The Constitution does not say that government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says '... the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'"
The walkout comes after the National Student Walkout on March 14, when students from 2,800 schools across the United States walked out of class for 17 minutes to protest gun violence. That event came one month after the shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stone Douglas High School that left 17 dead.
At least 15 schools in Brevard had walkouts, including Rockledge High School, where students stood on the football field to form a heart.
Deaton said it was important to make sure other students' voices were heard. Some students who participated in Friday's Second Amendment walkout wore camouflage clothing and President Trump's "Make America Great Again" hats. They carried "don't tread on me" flags and black-and-blue-striped American flags that are often used to show support for law enforcement.
"It's all over the news right now that all students hate guns. I wanted to show that not all students feel that way," said Zachary Schneider, a junior at Rockledge.
Although organizers said the event was not endorsing any specific political beliefs, many students who participated said they do not support a new law that raised the legal age to purchase guns, and would support a marshal program to train and arm school staff to respond during an active shooter situation.
More: Trump change on minimum age for buying a gun is the latest example of his policy zigzags
"I finally got old enough to buy my own ammunition and my own guns, and I lost it again," Schneider said, referring to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act.
The Safety Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott in response to the shooting in Parkland, raised the legal age to purchase guns from a licensed dealer from 18 to 21; puts in place a three-day waiting period to purchase long rifles and other long guns; and bans the sale and possession of bump stocks, devices that make a semi-automatic weapon shoot nearly as fast as a fully automatic weapon.
The law also implements regulations to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
The Safety Act did not ban assault-style weapons, like the AR-15 Nikolas Cruz used to kill 14 students and three adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day, ignoring a call from some of the shooting's survivors.
Daniel Howard, a freshman, compared banning some types of guns to banning spoons because they make people fat, cars because they make people drive drunk or pencils because they make people misspell words.
Event organizers and participants said they were disappointed the student walkouts on March 14, marking a month since the Parkland shooting, turned political. Deaton said the original purpose of the student walkouts was to honor the victims of the shooting, but parents and social media warped the message to support gun control.
"In the beginning, it started as a memorial to the Parkland students. And that's how it should have stayed," Deaton said.
Walkouts in Washington, D.C., and the March for Our Lives event March 24 was organized by some of the Parkland students who survived the shooting.
Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg — Marjory Stoneman Douglas students who have become the face of the movement for safer schools and tighter gun laws — have specifically called for a ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Unlike many of the students who turned out to march across the Eau Gallie Causeway as part of the local March for Our Lives rally in Melbourne, students at the Second Amendment Rockledge walkout on Friday said they support implementing a marshal plan to train and arm school staff.
"If they (school staff) are capable, we should allow it. They're just going to tell us to hide during a school shooting?" John King, a junior, said in disbelief.
"I personally believe it's a good idea, as long as they're trained and have the knowledge," Delaney added.
Under the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, the state provided $67 million for local sheriff's offices to develop programs to provide training to school districts, if local school boards approve the program.
Before the law was passed, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey proposed a similar program to the School Board that would train anonymous school employees who volunteer and allow them to carry a gun in a concealed holster on their hip. The School Board has not taken a stance on the proposal yet.
More: Guns in school: It's not just an idea. Here's how some states are already doing it
Vickie Hickey, principal of Rockledge High School, said the school treated Friday's event exactly like it treated the walkouts that took place March 14. She said both events were completely student-driven.
“We were built on certain rights and that was one of the original rights, that we should have the right to bear arms,” sophomore Chloe Deaton told the group. She helped Delaney organize the walkout.
Rocker Ted Nugent says the Florida students calling for gun control have "no soul" and are "mushy brained children."
The 69-year-old made the comments Friday while defending the National Rifle Association as a guest on the Joe Pags show, a nationally syndicated conservative radio program.
Nugent, a longtime member of the NRA's board of directors, said survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are wrong to blame the NRA and its members for mass shootings.
"These poor children, I'm afraid to say, it hurts me to say, but the evidence is irrefutable: They have no soul," Nugent said. He added that the gun control measures the students support amount to "spiritual suicide" and "will cause more death and mayhem."
A representative for Nugent did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Some Parkland students responded on social media and demanded an apology.
"If only he saw all the tears. If only he had to look into the eyes I've looked into. If only he saw what this did to all of us," junior Cameron Kasky said on Twitter. "And here the NRA is, receiving more fear-based donations than ever. Talk about 'no soul.' This guy better apologize. Seriously."
Senior Kyra Parrow said it's funny that the NRA rails against bullying while Nugent was "being a 5 year old acting like a bully" to her and her classmates.
Nugent made the comments the same day several advertisers dropped Fox News personality Laura Ingraham after she mocked a survivor of the Parkland shooting online.
Ingraham said Friday she will take a weeklong "Easter break" with her children while guest hosts fill in on her show, "The Ingraham Angle."
She drew backlash Wednesday when she shared an article on Twitter saying student David Hogg had been rejected by four colleges and was whining about it. She later apologized and said Hogg should be proud of his grades.
MIAMI (AP) -- More advertisers dropped Fox News personality Laura Ingraham on Friday, two days after she mocked a Florida school shooting survivor online.
At least 11 companies had said by Friday afternoon that they would pull their ads from "The Ingraham Angle."
On Wednesday, Ingraham tweeted, "David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it."
In response, Hogg, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who filmed students hiding from the gunman in their classrooms, was quick to respond, tweeting a list of a dozen advertisers and encouraging followers to immediately call them and ask them to drop Ingraham. Hogg has faced intense criticism from right-wing conservatives and gun advocates who have falsely called him a crisis actor after the Valentine's Day shooting in Parkland that killed 17.
"Soooo @IngrahamAngle what are your biggest advertisers ... Asking for a friend," he wrote with the hashtag #BoycottIngramAdverts.
Of the businesses listed by Hogg, online home goods store Wayfair, food company Nestle, travel website TripAdvisor, video-streaming service Hulu and Rachel Ray's dog food Nutrish said they are removing their support from Ingraham. Though not specifically mentioned in Hogg's initial tweet, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Expedia, StitchFix, Johnson & Johnson and Atlantis, Paradise Island resort have also dropped Ingraham.
Ingraham apologized Thursday on Twitter, saying, "On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland."
Ingraham tweeted that she thought she was the first to feature Hogg on her show after the shooting and added, "he's welcome to come on my show anytime for a productive discussion."
Hogg tweeted later Thursday that an apology to save advertisers wasn't enough and that he'd only accept Ingraham's apology if she denounced the way Fox News has treated his friends.
Quote:
"It's time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children," Hogg wrote.
Is the the type of person you want to follow?
God’s Wrath “Vengeance Is Mine, I Will Repay,” Says the Lord
They walked onto the schools track carrying the American flag and signs that said “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” and “I support the right to bear arms,”
Too bad Ted doesn't have an audience that advertisers desire, he'd lose his advertisers just like Ingraham and justly so. His radio spot should just say, sponsored by real american nutjobs.
I still don't think they should be doing this during school hours even if I agree with their cause.
You can't fix stupid but you can destroy ignorance. When you destroy ignorance you remove the justifications for evil. If you want to destroy evil then educate our people. Hate is a tool of the stupid to deal with what they can't understand.
Too bad Ted doesn't have an audience that advertisers desire, he'd lose his advertisers just like Ingraham and justly so. His radio spot should just say, sponsored by real american nutjobs.
David Hogg ‏Verified account @davidhogg111
Can we please not debate this as Democrats and Republicans but discuss this as Americans? In the comments if you see someone you dissagree with do not attack each other talk to one another, this applies to me too. WE MUST WORK TOGETHER TO SAVE OUR FUTURE. 9:21 PM - 11 Mar 2018
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
You forgot to tell that the Austin Bomber, those pesky guns.
That's why they use the children you're not permitted to say negatives about them they are children.
Far from it, the problem is the attacks tilt hard toward ad hominem and while personal attacks are bad, it's just extra slimey to apply it to victims. Even Laura's apology was a classic "sorry if you were offended" non-apology. She can do better.
The survivors being kids doesn't make them invincible from criticism. The problem is I'm not seeing any good criticism levied at these kids. Even on the March for our lives thread, you posted a video insinuating that Emma Gonzalez bullied the shooter, as if that justifies his attack. The problem with that insinuation is the videos author is insinuating the kids deserved to be shot at (at least a little bit). You posting the video means you endorse that viewpoint.
I was mercilessly bullied in grade school growing up. So much I had to be removed in 8th grade because the teachers turned a blind eye. Ironically this was a fundamentalist Baptist school. I went to a public school for HS and didn't get bullied on nearly the same level. The reason I bring this up? My going to that Christian school with a gun and shooting up my bullies does not make them guilty of me shooting people. That responsibility lies with the shooter. This new narrative to make the kids bullies only serves to additionally defame and dehumanize these kids who went through something no teenager should EVER go through.
We can discuss what we think solutions are. But defaming these kids I will continue to call out on from posters. It's shameful.
It's literally what happened. Watch the full clip. This is why I hate YouTube so much. YouTube takes all of the bad editing jobs of news channels without the psuedo-ethics that stops news channels into becoming full on hack jobs. YouTube news is very dangerous.
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
You forgot to tell that the Austin Bomber, those pesky guns.
another stupid comparison, because we continue to work at keeping explosives out of peoples hands. Its not always successful(obviously) but its not like anyone can go to an explosives show and buy any explosives they want from any private seller with no checks
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
You forgot to tell that the Austin Bomber, those pesky guns.
another stupid comparison, because we continue to work at keeping explosives out of peoples hands. Its not always successful(obviously) but its not like anyone can go to an explosives show and buy any explosives they want from any private seller with no checks
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
You forgot to tell that the Austin Bomber, those pesky guns.
another stupid comparison, because we continue to work at keeping explosives out of peoples hands. Its not always successful(obviously) but its not like anyone can go to an explosives show and buy any explosives they want from any private seller with no checks
and that is a problem that I am sure we would like to find a solution to , if there is a solution. After the OKC bombing things were done to attempt to keep people from buying large amounts of the ingredients, like McVeigh did, or at least allow authorities to be notified if someone did.
Most people are not asking for a ban on guns. So these stupid " ban cars, or ban cell phones" arguments really make no sense . We are constantly working towards finding solutions for these issues,as well as we should be for our gun violence problems
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
You forgot to tell that the Austin Bomber, those pesky guns.
another stupid comparison, because we continue to work at keeping explosives out of peoples hands. Its not always successful(obviously) but its not like anyone can go to an explosives show and buy any explosives they want from any private seller with no checks
and that is a problem that I am sure we would like to find a solution to , if there is a solution. After the OKC bombing things were done to attempt to keep people from buying large amounts of the ingredients, like McVeigh did, or at least allow authorities to be notified if someone did.
Most people are not asking for a ban on guns. So these stupid " ban cars, or ban cell phones" arguments really make no sense . We are constantly working towards finding solutions for these issues,as well as we should be for our gun violence problems
Those of use that possess firearms do not have a gun violence problem. We out gun the criminals. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man a statistic.
"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money." Margarat Thatcher
I mean wow, just wow. These people that fight for guns, you should not be surpsprised when students are killed by guns.
When your children are mowed down, by the very same item you fight to preserve. You wanted this, you shouldn't be surprised when humanity does wrong, you have thousands of years of data to show you what humanity will do with weapons.
You forgot to tell that the Austin Bomber, those pesky guns.
another stupid comparison, because we continue to work at keeping explosives out of peoples hands. Its not always successful(obviously) but its not like anyone can go to an explosives show and buy any explosives they want from any private seller with no checks
and that is a problem that I am sure we would like to find a solution to , if there is a solution. After the OKC bombing things were done to attempt to keep people from buying large amounts of the ingredients, like McVeigh did, or at least allow authorities to be notified if someone did.
Most people are not asking for a ban on guns. So these stupid " ban cars, or ban cell phones" arguments really make no sense . We are constantly working towards finding solutions for these issues,as well as we should be for our gun violence problems
Those of use that possess firearms do not have a gun violence problem. We out gun the criminals. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man a statistic.
This country has a gun violence problem, as a whole. That doesnt mean each individual person who posseses guns has a gun violence problem. Dont get me wrong, I am not anti gun , at all. Just want to find solutions to our problems. Not necessarily a proponent of new gun laws, but at least close some loopholes by enforcing the ones we already have
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
