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Emma Gonzalez was once just a normal teenage girl. Now she is an advocate for gun control and as one of the movement’s loudest voices.
After surviving the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Gonzalez made headlines when she read her powerful speech against gun violence at a Fort Lauderdale rally after the massacre. Her voice shouting out “We call B.S.!” was heard all over the nation.
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In that speech, she called out President Trump for the money he took from the National Rifle Association for his 2016 campaign. Her speech can be heard here.
Gonzalez then co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD. The group on Facebook currently has over 150,000 followers.
She also participated in the CNN town hall where survivors of the tragedy could speak directly to Florida Senator Marco Rubio and NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch. Gonzalez was firm with Loesch and the crowd at the event. The town hall event can be viewed here.
Gonzalez is tough, smart, and it appears, she has no plans to let the NRA or the government forget what happened to her classmates and teachers that fateful February afternoon. Many people are supporting Gonzalez in her efforts. According to USA Today, Gonzalez has passed more than 990,000 followers on the site compared to the NRA’s 584,000 followers, even though the association has been a user since 2009.
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Emma Gonzalez is a leader for students, not only affected by the Stoneman Douglas mass shooting but, for all students who should not have to fear for their lives going to school. Her efforts seem to be working as President Trump has ordered the Justice Department to create regulations to ban the sale of ‘bump stocks,’ an attachment that can be added to a rifle that can turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic ones. This is a step in the right direction.