Parkland students set to bring gun-control bus tour to SW Florida
Dave OsbornParkland students who have gained national attention for their activism since the Feb. 14 massacre at their school are taking to the road this summer.
They will bring their "Road to change" state bus tour Monday to Naples and Fort Myers, with stops planned from early afternoon and into the evening.
Beginning at 2:30 p.m. Monday, students will meet with local candidates "who have demonstrated they will fight for sensible gun laws in their local, state and national campaigns," stated a news release from students' supporters released Friday afternoon.
That event will be at the Best Western Inn at 2329 Ninth St. N., Naples. Ten students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and 10 Collier and Lee students will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. to announce local and national plans regarding gun legislation. News media and the public are invited.
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From 4 to 7 p.m., students will host a voter registration drive at Silverspot Cinema Terrace in Mercato in North Naples to sign up people before the November mid-term elections. Mercato is near the northeast corner of Vanderbilt Beach Road and U.S. 41.
The students then will head to Fort Myers for a town hall discussion from 8 to 9:30 p.m. in the ballroom at the Florida Gulf Coast University Cohen Center, 10501 FGCU Blvd. S.
Students will be on stage, along with others in the movement to end gun violence, to discuss the issue with the audience.
Fourteen students and three adults died in the Feb. 14 attack at Stoneman Douglas High on Florida's east coast.
On March 24, Parkland students held a national rally, "March for our Lives," attracting thousands of people of all ages to Washington, D.C.
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Michaela O'Brien, 15, a Naples High student who helped to lead a March 24 rally in Naples, said in a news release, “I am honored to be working with such strong and dedicated young adults. I never could have imagined having the opportunity of working with the students who inspired me to create change in the first place.
"I am eager to put our heads together to see how we can move forward to make this country a safer place for all.”
The Parkland Students’ visit to Naples is supported by local groups, including Collier Students for Change, Collier Freedom, Moms Demand Action and the Democratic Party of Collier County.
