Parkland shooting survivor says advocating for gun control meant 'throwing away my childhood,' but she sees an opportunity for 'real substantial change' after the Uvalde school shooting
- A 2018 Parkland school shooting survivor said she "thrust" herself into advocacy after the massacre.
- During an interview with CBS Mornings, Jaclyn Corin said the US is a crossroads with gun control.
A survivor of the 2018 Parkland massacre said advocating for gun control legislation meant "throwing away the rest of my childhood," but remains optimistic for change in the wake of the May 24 Uvalde, Texas, deadly school shooting.
"After the shooting, I pretty much thrust myself into advocacy because I knew that if I was lucky enough to survive the shooting and some of my peers were not, I needed to do something productive with my fear," Jaclyn Corin told "CBS Mornings" in an interview that aired on Friday.
She continued: "I kind of spent the rest of my high school career throwing away the rest of my childhood really and doing this advocacy work."
Corin added that she believes the US is "at another turning point" with gun control legislation after two recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, which left 10 and 21 people dead, respectively.
"I really think this is the time where we're gonna see real, substantial change," said Corin, who co-founded gun control advocacy group March For Our Lives shortly after 17 people were gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The recent spate of mass shootings has sparked renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers and gun control advocates to pass more restrictive legislation across different levels of government.
On Wednesday, families of gun violence victims gave harrowing and emotional testimony to Congress — many sharing graphic stories and urging politicians to take action.
Meanwhile, at a grassroots level, March For Our Lives is planning a new wave of protests in Washington DC — and across the country — on Saturday, following similar protests back in 2018.