--- description: Comedian and Late Show host Stephen Colbert praised Florida students who reacted to a school shooting by demanding stricter gun control laws title: Stephen Colbert: The Florida Students 'Give Me Hope' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda66060e50b1cc57/6989285b22fb85169fe24d20/gettyimages-912678152.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Stephen Colbert Says the Florida Students Demanding Gun Reform ‘Give Me Hope’ by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 21, 2018 7:34 AM CUT  Stephen Colbert hosts The Late Show on Jan. 30, 2018. Stephen Colbert hosts The Late Show on Jan. 30, 2018.Scott Kowalchyk—CBS/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 21, 2018 7:34 AM CUT _The_ _Late Show_ host Stephen Colbert has praised the student survivors of the Florida [school shooting](http://time.com/parkland-high-school-shooting-vigil/ "undefined") for speaking out and demanding stricter gun control legislation. Colbert said the teenagers’ energy gives him “hope” when “the adults aren’t cutting it anymore.” “There is one group that does give me hope that we can do something to protect the children and sadly it’s the children,” [Colbert said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa0tSw2iV5o "undefined") during his opening monologue Tuesday. “These students saw their leaders doing nothing and said ‘hold my root beer.’” In the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that [killed 17 people](http://time.com/5158678/what-to-know-about-the-active-shooter-situation-at-florida-high-school/ "undefined") last week, many students have [spoken out](http://time.com/5162780/students-florida-school-shooting-loudest-voices/ "undefined") about the state of America’s gun violence, calling on politicians to strengthen current gun control laws to [prevent another ](http://time.com/5164939/march-for-our-lives-florida-shooting/ "undefined")mass shooting. Students traveled to the state capital Tuesday to [urge representatives](http://time.com/5166244/florida-shooting-gun-reform-protest-students/?xid=homepage "undefined") to support a ban on [assault rifles](http://time.com/5167687/florida-shooting-lawmakers-assault-weapon-ban/ "undefined"), like the [AR-15 wielded](http://time.com/4371452/orlando-shooting-ar-15-military-civilian-family/ "undefined") by suspected Parkland [gunman Nikolas Cruz](http://time.com/5159134/who-is-the-florida-shooter-parkland-nicolas-cruz/?xid=homepage "undefined"), while a ‘March for Our Lives’ [demonstration](http://time.com/5167102/march-for-our-lives-parkland-school-shooting-protest/ "undefined") is planned for Washington, D.C. next month. “I hope these kids don’t give up because this is their lives and their future,” Colbert said. “Someone else might be in power but this country belongs to them. And there is reason for hope.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5167864/stephen-colbert-florida-shooting-students-gun-reform/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5167864/stephen-colbert-florida-shooting-students-gun-reform/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Says the Florida Students Demanding Gun Reform ‘Give Me Hope’","datePublished":"2018-02-21T07:34:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:22:14.784Z","description":"He praised students' activism, saying \"the adults aren't cutting it anymore\"","url":"https://time.com/5167864/stephen-colbert-florida-shooting-students-gun-reform/","keywords":["Television","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda66060e50b1cc57/6989285b22fb85169fe24d20/gettyimages-912678152.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda66060e50b1cc57/6989285b22fb85169fe24d20/gettyimages-912678152.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","caption":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","creditText":"Scott Kowalchyk—CBS/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5167864/stephen-colbert-florida-shooting-students-gun-reform/","name":"Stephen Colbert Says the Florida Students Demanding Gun Reform ‘Give Me Hope’"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Florida Shooting Survivor Calls for Action: 'We're Children. You Guys Are the Adults'","description":"David Hogg, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, pleaded with lawmakers to act","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SFQykjhh/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-02-15T19:14:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SFQykjhh.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5167864/stephen-colbert-florida-shooting-students-gun-reform/","duration":"PT39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5167864/stephen-colbert-florida-shooting-students-gun-reform/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```