\u201c…we need action NOW.\u201d<\/b>
\nAfter the shooting at the University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC), several former Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and families of those killed during the shooting at the Parkland, Florida high school, called for action to be taken, although they disagreed with the path forward.
Since the February 14,2018,shooting in Florida, parents, siblings, spouses and classmates of those who lost their lives pushed for changes they asserted could help prevent others from suffering a similar loss. On Tuesday, two people were killed and at least four were injured during a shooting at UNCC before the suspected shooter was apprehended. The shooting was a reminder of the reality for students on campuses across the country and the people who have been fighting for change for over a year reignited their calls for something to be done to stop the violence.
Family members and friends wait for their loved ones at a staging area after a shooting on the campus of University of North Carolina Charlotte in University City, Charlotte, on Tuesday. In the wake of the shooting, families of Parkland victims and activists called for change but differed on the solution. LOGAN CYRUS\/AFP\/Getty Images
During a discussion at the White House in the days following the Parkland shooting, Andrew Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, was killed, made a plea in favor of school safety. At the time, he argued it wasn\u2019t a partisan issue and schools should be treated the same way as airports, which he noted, had new policies put in place immediately after the September 11,2011, terror attacks.
\u201cWhen is enough going to be enough?\u201d Andrew posted on Twitter on Tuesday. \u201cWe need to secure our schools now!\u201d
He didn’t elaborate on the details, but a website dedicated to his \u00ab\u00a0fix it\u00a0\u00bb mission outlined an eight-point plan:
Andrew\u2019s son, Hunter, agreed that the time to act was upon America but took a different approach about what had to be done. Hunter, a Florida State University student, posted on Twitter that tomorrow, he\u2019ll sit in a class with 200 students with \u201czero protection.\u201d
He asked, \u201c When will Legislators pass campus-carry laws so I can protect myself?\u201d in one tweet and added in a second tweet that Americans \u201cshouldn\u2019t be prohibited from protecting themselves anywhere.\u201d
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie Guttenberg was killed, spent the immediate aftermath of his daughter\u2019s death advocating for changes to America\u2019s gun control laws, including those preventing people from holding gun manufacturers accountable. It\u2019s activism he pursues on a daily basis still and on Tuesday, he also posted on Twitter about the shooting, writing \u201cENOUGH!!!\u201d He told anyone who didn\u2019t believe America had a problem to \u201cget out of the way,\u201d and argued that more guns weren\u2019t the solution.
\u201cIf you believe more guns are the solution, you are wrong,\u201d Guttenberg wrote. \u201cWe have a problem in this country and if you argue with that, you are part of the problem.\u201d
David Hogg, a co-founder of March for Our Lives, retweeted Guttenberg\u2019s tweet and also penned one of his own.
\u201cI\u2019m so sick of being sick and tired,\u201d Hogg posted. \u201cThe only thing stopping us from saving 40,000 lives annually isn’t people caring about gun violence it\u2019s a couple of Senators.\u201d
Alex Wind, another co-founder of March for Our Lives, posted on Twitter that \u201cwe need action NOW\u201d and called on lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to act.
\u201cNo lawmaker, Republican OR Democrat should be allowed to sit idly by in this gun violence epidemic,\u201d Wind wrote.
Police believe that the suspect acted alone and there is no further threat to campus. As of 9:30 p.m. EST, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were still clearing buildings on campus. The department asked people to \u00ab\u00a0hang tight\u00a0\u00bb and not leave their building until it’s been cleared.<\/p>\n