FLORIDA: GOP Lawmakers Block Motion On Assault Weapons Ban As Weeping Parkland Students Look On

Fort Lauderdale’s ABC affiliate reports:

On their first full day lobbying Florida lawmakers in Tallahassee to change the state’s gun laws, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School quickly learned change does not happen very fast in government, if at all.

With Douglas students in the gallery Tuesday, the Florida House voted down a motion to take up a ban on assault weapons such as the AR-15 used by Nikolas Cruz when he killed 17 people at the school on Valentine’s Day. The final motion vote was 36-71.

Democratic Rep. Kionne McGhee asked for a procedural move that would have allowed it to consider the bill to ban assault rifles and large capacity magazines. The bill had been assigned to three committees but was not scheduled for a hearing. The committees won’t meet again before the legislative session ends March 9.

That vote count is almost exactly along party lines.

Florida House votes down motion to consider ban on assault weapons as Douglas students look on from gallery https://t.co/on3CpbksV8 pic.twitter.com/neXximHAvd

— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) February 20, 2018

AP: Sheryl Acquarola, a 16 year-old junior from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is overcome with emotion in the east gallery of the Florida House after the representatives voted not to hear the assault rifles ban bill. pic.twitter.com/qA28kFCEig

— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) February 20, 2018