- Students Demand Action and Students for a Democratic Society each have plans to organize and call for change following the deadly shooting at Florida State University.
- SDA plans to march to the Capitol on Wednesday morning while SDS plans to march on campus on Thursday afternoon.
- Watch now to hear the goals each group has for their actions.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
While much of the community continues to grieve and recover from the deadly shooting at Florida State University, tragedy has lit a fire into students who want change.
I'm Alberto Camargo your College Town neighborhood reporter.
Following the plans of one group of students calling on legislators to act, while another looks to address what they believe is the root cause.
"As a leader I carry the weight of this moment and turn it into purpose. We owe it to the victims not just here at Florida State University, but across Florida and across our nation, that this doesn't happen again."
Students Demand Action made their case for gun reform Tuesday, alongside House Democrat leader Fentrice Driskell.
"Protecting these young people means listening to them."
SDA wants safe gun storage laws to be expanded.
The law currently applies to homes with a minor of under 16 — SDA wants it expanded to any household with any person who cannot legally own a gun.
They're also asking Congress to reinstate the Office of Gun Violence Prevention,
An office that was established in 2023 under President Biden but closed earlier this year under President Trump.
"Maybe if that office had existed then maybe there could have been some policy pushed through at the federal or local level in order to stop this before it occurred because at the end of the day, poor policy enabled this tragedy."
Another demand is that a hunting season sales tax holiday be removed from Senate Bill 7034.
If approved, the tax holiday would last from Sep. 8 through Dec. 31 — applied to purchases of ammunition, firearms and other weapons.
Meanwhile, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society is rebounding after their previous plans to protest international student visa revocations were cut short by Thursday's shooting.
Lain Dorsey says that everyone in the group is still working through the grief, but they remain focused on solutions.
Dorsey says the focus of their action is to eradicate any extreme ideology that may exist
on campus.
"This tragedy that unfolded last Thursday has really brought our campus together. And I believe that students are angry, they're sad, they're hurt, and they want to see actionable change happen on our campus, in our state, in our country."
Both groups have plans to act soon.
Students Demand Action will be marching from campus to the Capitol Wednesday morning at 8:30.
Students for a Democratic Society plans to march from Landis Green to Westcott Fountain Thursday afternoon at 1:30.
In College Town, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
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