NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference Thursday and spoke of "the breakneck speed for gun control laws," following the Florida shooting. "As usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain," he said.
Meanwhile, some teachers in Florida were unsettled to learn earlier this week that the retirement funds to which they've been contributing invest in the gun company that produced the weapon used in the Parkland attack. Bloomberg News reports the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan held more than 41,000 shares in American Outdoor Brands Co. (formerly Smith & Wesson), maker of the semi-automatic AR-15 used by the shooter.
The president of the Florida teachers union has called for the fund to divest itself of shares. But the Washington Post reports that a spokesman with the state pension fund said that is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Student survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that left 17 of their classmates and educators dead are also using their platform to increase pressure on the NRA.
On Wednesday, at a CNN town hall, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio broke with an NRA stance when he announced he would support raising the age from 18 to 21 for "buying a rifle." He was responding to a question from student survivor Cameron Kasky. However, during the same exchange, Rubio refused to say he would renounce NRA donations. (Rubio has earned the NRA's highest rating, A+.)
Stoneman Douglas survivors have also mobilized students from across the country, who have been protesting, staging school walkouts and calling on legislators to act.
"March for Our Lives," a national rally, is planned in Washington, D.C., on March 24.
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