PLANTATION, Fla. – South Florida students spent much of the President's Day holiday protesting gun laws in the wake of last week's tragic school shooting that left 17 dead in Parkland.
Over 200 students showed up outside American Heritage School in Plantation on Monday, holding signs and lining Broward Boulevard to show solidarity with those who lost their lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and hoping lawmakers hear their voices.
"We're looking out to make sure further incidents like this are impossible," said Nick Fonseca, a senior at the school and one of the protest organizers.
Many of the students were dismayed living in a world where violence continues with no end in sight.
"This is all I have ever known, this culture of being gunned down for no reason," said American Heritage senior Faith Ward. "And this culture of people giving hopes and prayers for three days and then moving on, and I'm tired of it."
"That's why we keep having these problems because no one ever wants to do anything because they just forget and move on."
Students used social media to help organize the protest in less than two days and were pleased with the turnout, believing their voices can bring change.
"We want to make sure that people feel safe in their own school," added Fonseca. "We want to make sure people that are able to obtain firearms through their 2nd Amendment are the types of people who we trust with their firearms."
Moms Demand Action held a meeting later in the day in Coral Springs to discuss plans to fight for gun control.
Local 10 News spoke to two teenagers at the event at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts who are traveling to Tallahassee Tuesday with a group of about 100 other students and adults.
The group is hoping to speak directly with lawmakers about gun control measures.
"That sadness and being afraid transferred over to anger and now we want action," one student said.
"I just can't sit at home and do nothing because I know it's going to happen again, because thoughts and prayers are not going to do anything," another student said. "Action is what's going to do something."
