High school students lie-in outside White House to protest school shooting

High school students in the US are mobilising across the country to demand action on guns once and for all. This comes days after the horrific massacre at a high school in Florida.

Over the night, teenagers in Washington staged a dramatic “lie-in” outside the White House to demand that elected representatives take some action on gun control.

About 100 students took part in the powerful protest, which saw them lie on their backs across the pavement in a stark reminder of the lives lost to gun violence.

Some chanted “shame on you”, while others carried American flags or signs that read, “More guns, more murder”.

One of the students Maya Smith, 15, who spoke with AFP said she feared for her life when she walked into school “because the government won’t decide that my life matters as much as the right to bear arms matters”.

Another student, Ella Fesler, 16, told AP: “Every day when I say ‘bye’ to my parents, I do acknowledge the fact that I could never see my parents again.”

Us president Donald Trump in response to the protest, through his spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said he was “supportive” of efforts to strengthen the background check system for those buying guns.

Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old accused of killing 17 students and teachers in Wednesday’s mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, bought a AR-15 semiautomatic rifle legally, despite numerous red flags that suggested he was mentally ill.

Some students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who survived the shooting are organising a mass rally for gun control on March 24, called the “March For Our Lives”.

Nikolas Cruz appears in court on Monday. Picture: Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via APSource:AP