2020 Democrats call for gun control on anniversary of Parkland shooting

Several Democratic 2020 presidential contenders called for gun reform on Friday, the anniversary of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. 

The online posts calling for action to curb gun violence came two years to the day since a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a massacre that helped revive the national conversation on gun control. 

“Today we remember the 17 students and staff killed two years ago in the horrific Parkland shooting. No family should ever face that unimaginable loss,” tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

Today we remember the 17 students and staff killed two years ago in the horrific Parkland shooting. No family should ever face that unimaginable loss. Together, we will end the greed of the gun industry and pass life-saving gun safety legislation.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 14, 2020

“To the families, first responders, Parkland community, and survivors of gun violence everywhere, 2020 must be the year we stop accepting the unacceptable,” said former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Today we honor the memory of the 17 people who died in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. To the families, first responders, Parkland community, and survivors of gun violence everywhere, 2020 must be the year we stop accepting the unacceptable.

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 14, 2020

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) vowed to “keep fighting” for gun control, while former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has donated heavily to gun control advocacy groups, said he would keep pursuing “efforts to end gun violence.”

My heart goes out to the students and staff of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School today, and to the friends and family of all those we lost two years ago. I will keep fighting beside you to end the gun violence epidemic—so we never have to endure tragedies like this again. https://t.co/ZdsDuxeW6s

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 14, 2020

We continue to stand with the Parkland community and won’t let up in our efforts to end gun violence and keep our children safe. pic.twitter.com/rXlv8Hw7be

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 14, 2020

Gun control has been an issue of general consensus in the fractured primary field, with several candidates backing efforts to expand background checks and some favoring implementing an assault weapons ban.

The country has witnessed a surge in activism surrounding gun control since the Parkland shooting; many of the high school survivors went on to create the March For Our Lives movement.