In Washington, D.C., at least eight students were arrested at a sit-in at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office on Wednesday demanding federal lawmakers pass gun control measures in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead—14 students and three faculty. Lawmakers in Washington have so far failed to pass any gun control measures since the mass shooting.
The Florida Legislature has passed a package of moderate gun control measures in the wake of the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The measures raise the age for purchasing firearms statewide, ban the purchase and possession of bump stocks and impose a 3-day waiting period to buy guns. But the measures do not include a ban on the sale of assault rifles or limits on high-capacity magazines, as the survivors of the school shooting had demanded. The measures also allow local school districts to arm certain school workers, including teachers. The legislation now heads to Florida Governor Rick Scott’s desk.
On Wednesday, the confessed Parkland shooter, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz, was arraigned on 17 counts of murder. And there was another school shooting Wednesday, in Birmingham, Alabama. One student was killed, and another is in critical condition. Authorities say the shooting appeared to be an accident.