--- description: A rally held days after a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, drew thousands calling for gun control and action from officials. title: Florida Shooting Survivors Demand Change at Rally image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fd2fab3e11a9fb2/698928217cdbac70e2d5c022/emma-gonzalez.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Florida](/tag/florida/) ## Florida Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Shame on You.' Florida Shooting Survivors Demand Change at Gun Control Rally  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:54 PM CUTPublished: Feb 17, 2018 8:42 PM CUT  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez reacts during her speech at a rally for gun control at the Broward County Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on February 17, 2018\. A student survivor of the Parkland school shooting called out US President Donald Trump on Saturday over his ties to the powerful National Rifle Association, in a poignant address to an anti-gun rally in Florida. "To every politician taking donations from the NRA, shame on you!" said Emma Gonzalez, assailing Trump over the multi-million-dollar support his campaign received from the gun lobby -- and prompting the crowd to chant in turn: "Shame on you!" / AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images) Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez reacts during her speech at a rally for gun control at the Broward County Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on February 17, 2018\. A student survivor of the Parkland school shooting called out US President Donald Trump on Saturday over his ties to the powerful National Rifle Association, in a poignant address to an anti-gun rally in Florida. "To every politician taking donations from the NRA, shame on you!" said Emma Gonzalez, assailing Trump over the multi-million-dollar support his campaign received from the gun lobby -- and prompting the crowd to chant in turn: "Shame on you!" / AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)RHONA WISE—AFP/Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:54 PM CUTPublished: Feb 17, 2018 8:42 PM CUT A rally held on Saturday, days after a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., drew a crowd of thousands and prompted impassioned pleas for gun control. The rally was held in front of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, about 25 miles from Parkland’s [Marjory Stoneman Douglas High Schoo](http://time.com/5158804/marjory-stoneman-douglas-high-school-shooting/ "undefined")l, where [17 people died in Wednesday’s shooting](http://time.com/5162936/florida-high-school-shooting-timeline/ "undefined"). Among the thousands who gathered on Saturday were students from the school, some of whom took to the podium to demand better gun control policies, [the Associated Press reports](http://newsroom.ap.org/detail/text/US--SchoolShooting-Florida-TheLatest/294db849d1c749a38bba8a8aed23b956?Query=emma&mediaType=text&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=26¤tItemNo=0 "undefined"). Emma Gonzalez, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, directly addressed President Donald Trump and other lawmakers in her speech. “If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association,” Gonzalez said. “We need to pay attention to the fact that this isn’t just a mental health issue,” Gonzalez added. “He wouldn’t have hurt that many students with a knife.” > [](https://twitter.com/SebastianMurdoc/status/964932189384298497) Fellow student Delaney Tarr also took to the stage to call for more comprehensive gun control. “Because of these gun laws, people that I know, people that I love, have died, and I will never be able to see them again,” she said. Students from the high school have been exceedingly vocal in the aftermath of the shooting, with many demanding action from lawmakers on gun control and other safety issues. “I think it’s great that [they’re saying ‘thoughts and prayers,’](http://time.com/5158850/parkland-florida-school-shooting-donald-trump/ "undefined") but it doesn’t do anything. And after every single shooting that’s what they say over and over again, but nothing ever changes,” Carly Novell, a 17-year-old student at the school, [told TIME on Friday](http://time.com/5162780/students-florida-school-shooting-loudest-voices/ "undefined"). “It has to be political because this happened because of guns, this happened because of the relaxed gun laws that we have.” Vice President Mike Pence said during a speech Saturday that the Trump administration will make school safety a priority, but did not go into specifics, AP reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5164570/emma-gonzalez-speech-parkland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5164570/emma-gonzalez-speech-parkland/"},"headline":"'Shame on You.' 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