On Sunday morning, five survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which left 17 students and adults dead, appeared on Face the Nation. They were emphatic in their condemnation of the politicians and organizations who continue to allow such shootings to take place. Some of their words, taken from the transcript:
Cameron Kasky:
[T]he adults in office have let us down. Absolutely. And fortunately we have a lot of support from the older generations here, but what we're trying to do here March for Our Lives is say, the adult politicians have been playing around while my generation has been losing our lives. [...]
[F]rom here on, we are creating a badge of shame for any politicians who are accepting money from the NRA. It is a special interest group that has most certainly not our best interests in mind. And this cannot be the normal. This can be changed and it will be changed.
Emma Gonzalez:
[A]t this point I don't even know if the adults in power who are funded by the NRA I don't even think we need them anymore because they're going to be gone by midterm election. There's-- there's barely any time for them to save their skins. And if they don't turn around right now and state their open support for this movement they're going to be left behind. Because you are either with us or against us at this point.
David Hogg:
President Trump you control the House of Representatives. You control the Senate and you control the executive. You haven't taken a single bill for mental health care or gun control and passed it. And that's pathetic. We've seen a government shutdown. We've seen tax reform but nothing to save our children's lives. Are you kidding me. You think now is the time to focus on the past and not the future to prevent the death of thousands of other children. You sicken me.
[...] I call on President Trump and the Republican controlled House and Senate and Executive Branch to work together, get some bills passed and stop taking money from the NRA because children are dying and so is the future of America as a result.
Alex Wind:
March 24th on the March for our Lives is only the beginning. This is the first march. But I can guarantee it will not be the last. We will be marching for the 17 we lost at our school. We will be marching for everyone we lost at the Newtown Sandy Hook shooting, at Columbine, at Virginia Tech in San Bernardino, Orlando at the Pulse shooting and at Las Vegas. This is only the beginning and March 24th things are going to change.