we are not gathered here in memory of the 17 who lost their beautiful smiles and laughs and futures to your precious laws that may have applied to the seventeen hundreds but now? we don't need these machines this danger.
we don't need this fear inside of us the feeling of being stalked in the hallways of the same building you previously walked before without a second thought but now it could happen. and it's more real than ever before.
those 17 could have been me and my friends and peers. they were a mere drive away from that place i go everyday where i see the people i love. to know that one day they could be on the floor next to my desk or my still lifeless body.
that terrifies me.
tell me, how are you not terrified? how does it not scare you, that your next wave of voters are terrified of your inability to act after the nightmare that became our reality.
we are gathered here to tell you that we demand change.