DNC chief: Student walkouts over guns ‘profoundly inspiring’

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez issued a statement Wednesday praising thousands of students nationwide for walking out of class to protest gun violence.

In a brief statement, Perez called the protests by students from colleges to elementary schools “profoundly inspiring.”

{mosads}

“It is profoundly inspiring to see millions of students across the country organizing and demanding action to end the epidemic of gun violence. As they keep reminding us, thoughts and prayers are not enough; now is the time for action,” Perez said.

Perez went on to criticize the National Rifle Association for “cruel and callous indifference” to America’s spate of mass shootings, including last month’s assault at a Florida high school that left 17 dead.

“The cruel and cowardly indifference of the gun lobby and their close allies in Congress is no match for the courage of these students and all those fighting to end gun violence,” Perez wrote. “Because of their leadership and activism, we know that one day we will no longer live in a nation that sees its children murdered and does nothing.”

Students across the country are walking out of schools Wednesday to protest gun violence and remember the 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month. Survivors from that shooting have been the leaders in a national campaign aimed at ending gun violence and school shootings in America.

One of the student survivors of the shooting, David Hogg, is calling for monthly walkouts until the epidemic ends.

“The main way that I can see the momentum really continuing is if we had a walkout every 14th, until legislative action is taken in the United States Congress by these politicians that haven’t taken action for so long,” Hogg said on NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday.

On Sunday the Trump administration unveiled its long-awaited plan to curb gun violence and protect the nation’s schools, which includes support for stronger background checks for gun purchases and grants for school districts to train personnel in firearm usage.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted Monday that the president “hasn’t backed away” from his support for universal background checks or raising the age requirement for purchasing a rifle, despite neither being addressed in the official White House plan.

“He hasn’t backed away from these things at all,” Sanders said at a press briefing. “He can’t make them happen with a broad stroke of the pen. You have to have some congressional component to do some of these things, and without that support, it’s not as possible.”