--- title: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Florida Shooting Transcript description: Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the U.S. "must reverse these trends" and vowed to increase gun prosecutions. canonical: https://time.com/5160368/florida-school-shooting-jeff-sessions/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-15T16:21:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:58:35.245Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'We Must Confront This Problem.' Read Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Florida School Shooting og:description: "We are going to take action. We must reverse these trends." og:url: https://time.com/5160368/florida-school-shooting-jeff-sessions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e3192687bdb36bf/698927cabc6cfcfcb63e5097/gettyimages-917494600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: On Abraham Lincolns birthday, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks in the Lincoln Hall of Union League of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA, on February 12, 2018. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'We Must Confront This Problem.' Read Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Florida School Shooting twitter:description: "We are going to take action. We must reverse these trends." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e3192687bdb36bf/698927cabc6cfcfcb63e5097/gettyimages-917494600.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'We Must Confront This Problem.' Read Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Florida School Shooting > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a39b0508-fa16-4dd6-888d-881ffb7a99d0&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'We Must Confront This Problem.' Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Florida School Shooting [Watch (HLS stream): 'We Must Confront This Problem.' Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Florida School Shooting](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EpLfq0bz.m3u8) (1:54)  _Published 2018-02-15. Jeff Sessions said that the Justice Department will make responding to school shootings a priority._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 15, 2018 4:21 PM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 15, 2018 4:21 PM UTC Jeff Sessions said that the Justice Department will make responding to school shootings a priority. Speaking to the Major County Sheriffs’ Association Thursday, the attorney general said that the U.S. “must reverse these trends” and vowed to increase gun prosecutions. “It cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening, and we are once again, watching the images of our children— terrified— streaming from their school with their hands above their heads,” he said. “When parents, once again, go to sleep in fear that their kids will not be safe when they leave for their school bus in the morning. We must confront this problem.” Sessions was speaking one day after a gunman [killed at least 17](http://time.com/5158678/what-to-know-about-the-active-shooter-situation-at-florida-high-school/?xid=homepage) and injured 14 students at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It was the [18th school shooting](http://time.com/5159039/florida-school-shooting-parkland/?xid=homepage) of this year. The suspected shooter, 19-year-old [Nikolas Cruz](http://time.com/5159134/who-is-the-florida-shooter-parkland-nicolas-cruz/?xid=homepage), was taken into custody about an hour after fleeing school grounds. Read Sessions’ full remarks as prepared for delivery. --- > “” --- ## Transcript It cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening in our country and we are once again watching the images of children terrified [ UNKNOWN ], Screaming out of their school hands over their heads, it's an image we don't need to continue to see, when parents once again go to sleep and fearful that their kids will not be safe even when they go to school, parents have told me in gang infested neighborhoods that children can no longer stand on the bus stop by themselves they take turns, parents do Being out there every morning and afternoon. So we've got to confront the problem. There's no doubt about it. I think we can and we must do better. We owe it to every one of those kids crying outside their School yesterday and all those who never made it out of that school. Our hearts are hurting today, and all our law enforcement community knows that we have a challenge in front of us, and I know together we'll meet it. This situation that we seen just cannot continue. We will take such action as we're able to take. We've got to reverse These trends that we're seeing in these shootings. I think effective enforcement of our gun laws focusing on criminals and dangerous people, mentally ill people that have been Where we are we've got legal ability to do so, can reduce violence in our communities and improve public safety. It's not good if we've got gun laws that say criminals can't. Carried guns that they never get enforced. So we intend to enforce our laws and if anything the reason events that cause to know we need to do even more in the future. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5160368/florida-school-shooting-jeff-sessions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5160368/florida-school-shooting-jeff-sessions/"},"headline":"'We Must Confront This Problem.' 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