Emma Gonzalez

Meeting with people is awesome in every sense of the word. It can inspire you with glee. It can inspire you with happiness. It can inspire you with sadness and melancholy, but also hope. ”

I think there's an incredible amount of people who know not only what we're feeling but know people who have lost their lives to gun violence. ”

In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us. Fifteen were injured. And everyone - absolutely everyone - in the Douglas Community was forever altered. ”

Mental illness and gun violence are not directly correlated, but when the two go hand in hand, Americans - often children - lose their lives. ”

Teachers do not need to be armed with guns to protect their classes; they need to be armed with a solid education in order to teach their classes. ”

Any time I had my hair in a ponytail, it would give me a headache by the end of the day. ”

In Florida, to buy a gun, you do not need a permit, you do not need a gun license, and once you buy it, you do not need to register it. You do not need a permit to carry a concealed rifle or shotgun. You can buy as many guns as you want at one time. ”

Since the time of the Founding Fathers, and since they added the Second Amendment to the Constitution, our guns have developed at a rate that leaves me dizzy. ”

We need to digitize gun-sales records, mandate universal background checks, close gun-show loopholes and straw-man purchases, ban high-capacity magazines, and push for a comprehensive assault weapons ban with an extensive buyback system. ”

You might not be a big fan of politics, but you can still participate. All you need to do is vote for people you believe will work on these issues, and if they don't work the way they should, then it is your responsibility to call them, organize a town hall, and demand that they show up - hold them accountable. ”