The student tweeted, “What about my friends’ right to live when they were brutally murdered from gun violence?”
President Donald Trump delivered a speech Friday to the National Rifle Association (NRA) at its annual meeting and threw his support behind the group, which has come under scrutiny amid an ongoing push from gun reform advocates for further restrictions on firearms.
« Thanks to your activism and dedication, you have an administration fighting to protect your Second Amendment, and we will protect your Second Amendment, » Trump said during the speech. « Your Second Amendment rights are under siege, but they will never ever be under siege as long as I am your president. »
But Kyra Parrow, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida—where a mass shooting in February left 17 dead—was quick to rebut the president’s speech on Twitter.
Parrow posted: « ok trump but what about my friends’ right to live when they were brutally murdered from gun violence on Valentine’s Day @realDonaldTrump. »
The Parkland survivors have worked for gun reform, organizing, for instance, the massive March for Our Lives that took place just over a month after the shooting at their school.
David Hogg, a Parkland student who has become a high-profile activist, seemed to respond to Trump’s speech by retweeting a post from Shannon Watts—founder of Moms Demand, a gun reform group—that refuted a claim by the president about where mass shootings take place.
« Donald Trump just lied that 98% of mass shootings take place in gun-free zones. This is a total lie based on @NRA-funded research, » Watts tweeted. « Most mass shootings take place in private residences and are related to domestic violence. »
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President Donald Trump speaks to the National Rifle Association in Dallas, on May 4. Trump threw his support behind the NRA, which has come under scrutiny amid an ongoing push from gun reform advocates for further restrictions on firearms. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Speaking to the NRA Friday, Trump lobbied hard for its members’ votes in the midterm elections this November.
« Don’t be complacent. Don’t be complacent, » Trump said, according to CNN. « History says that when you win the presidency, you get complacent. You know the feeling? Like 90 percent of the time you win the presidency and for whatever reason you lose the midterm. We can’t let that happen. And the word is complacent. We cannot get complacent. »
