A Columbine survivor-turned-lawmaker is pushing the opposite of what many people think is the solution to end school shootings
- Patrick Neville, a Columbine shooting survivor and now a state legislator in Colorado, has reintroduced a bill that would make it legal to carry concealed weapons in schools.
- Neville has introduced the bill every year since he took public office in 2014.
- But the legislation stands in stark contrast to what many survivors of the recent Parkland, Florida shooting are advocating for.
Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, who was a sophomore at Columbine High School at the time of the 1999 mass shooting, has introduced legislation to eliminate restrictions on guns in schools every year since he joined the state legislature in 2014.
Neville has introduced his bill again since 17 people were shot and killed by a 19-year-old gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last week.
"Time and time again we point to the one common theme with mass shootings, they occur in gun-free zones," Neville told the Washington Times.
Under Colorado state law, gun owners are permitted to bring their guns on to school property, but must keep them locked in their cars. Neville's bill would make it legal to carry concealed weapons inside schools.
But many of the students who survived the Parkland shooting last week have become vocal advocates for the opposite approach, launching the Never Again movement, which is calling for stricter gun regulations, including background checks, and are organizing walkouts, die-ins, and a protest on Washington, DC - March for Our Lives - next month.
"They say tougher guns laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS. They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call BS," Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, said during a speech at a gun control rally over the weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Anne Marie Hochhalter, 36, who was a junior when she was shot in the back and paralyzed by the Columbine shooters, told Business Insider that she believes more gun regulations are needed, but has little hope lawmakers will make any meaningful change.
"I try not to get too political but I'm very passionate about gun control," Hochhalter said. "I have lost all faith in our government and senators and Congress people about making any lasting change because it has not happened and I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon."
Florida already has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country. Almost two million Florida residents have permits to carry concealed weapons, many more than any other state.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun-control group, gives Florida - and 24 other states - an "F" grade for its gun laws.
And the state has seen several of the country's deadliest mass shootings over the last few years, including the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016 and the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting last year.
Even some Republican lawmakers, including Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, are calling for "common sense" gun laws in the wake of the Parkland shooting.
"If you're a strong Second Amendment person, you need to slow down and take a look at reasonable things that can be done," Kasich told CNN on Sunday.