On Valentine’s Day, 17 students and teachers were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Another 14 individuals were wounded by the gunman. A day meant for love turned very ugly for all who were impacted by the shooting.

Students who survived the school shooting have come together to try make the United States safer by protesting for stricter gun laws. They have been fed up by their congressmen – women doing nothing to try to protect them.

Yesterday more than 100 students boarded buses heading to Tallahassee to meet with lawmakers to urge them to help prevent another deadly attack. Many boarded the buses shortly after attending funerals for their fallen classmates. Democratic lawmakers asked for a vote in the Republican-controlled House on a bill that would ban guns like the AR-15 that was used in the shooting. The voting went along party lines and was struck down, essentially ending any chance of another vote before the end of the legislative session.

These kids are heroes. They went through a tragedy I wouldn’t wish upon anyone, and they are using it to try to make everyone safer. I was brought to tears multiple times reading and watching videos of what these kids went through, but some still try to bring them down so they can’t speak out. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. liked two tweets on Twitter promoting conspiracy theories about the shooting. The president spent 30 minutes meeting families of the the shooting victims before flying off to play golf all weekend at his own resort. Many Republicans, who have taken millions of dollars from the National Rifle Association, have tried to spin this into a mental health debate instead of a gun debate.

Donald Trump did take a step I did not think he would take and has called for a ban of “Bump Stocks,” which are devices that let semi-automatic weapons fire hundreds of rounds per minute. Though this is a good first step, it is not enough. There is no logical reason to own an AR-15 type gun. As someone who grew up around guns my whole life, I have no desire to own a gun like this, and I am totally for stricter gun laws. We need to make sure children can go to school and feel safe. The fact that these kids seem to have more common sense than lawmakers is scary, but it gives me hope for future generations.