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VOLUME 114 ISSUE 59
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2020 Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
TWO YEARS LATER
Hope Dean // Alligator Staff
Members of March For Our Lives Gainesville pin up pieces of paper with information about the people who died in various mass shootings. The pinned papers included their names, ages and what loved ones said they were like. The group says it’s meant to remind people of who the victims were besides what’s shown on TV after they’ve died.
Two years later, Parkland’s people and politics will shape 2020 GUN REFORM WILL BE A KEY ISSUE LEADING INTO NOVEMBER’S ELECTION By Hannah Phillips Alligator Staff Writer
The first time Brandon Abzug opened his criminology textbook at UF, he saw the name of the man who murdered his high school classmates. “I just, I couldn’t read,” he said. “It was awful.” Abzug, a 19-year-old political science and criminology sophomore, is one of 268 Marjory Stoneman Douglas graduates enrolled at UF. His classmate Carmen Schentrup received a UF acceptance letter five days before she died in Parkland, Florida. Her name is nowhere to be found in the textbook. Schentrup shouldn’t have died
in vain, Abzug said. Now, he fights to honor her and all victims of gun violence through legislative action. It’s been two years since the school shooting that claimed 17 lives and sparked the youth movement, March for Our Lives. As the 2020 presidential election draws near, Abzug and other student activists are propelling gun reform to the forefront of the conversation through lobbying, vigils and voting. “We took a tragedy and we decided to do something about it”: the activists Five days after his classmates and teachers were killed, Abzug and his parents drove to Tallahassee. He spent eight hours that day recounting his story — one of shock, terror and disbelief — to state legislators one-on-one. They
Florida begins its 2020 season at SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Story description with comma, pg# home tonightfinish at 6:30 Our baseball beat writers give you an in-depth look at the team and its schedule, pg. 11
talked about gun reform, the viability of universal background checks and raising the minimum purchase age to 21. He lobbied on behalf of his friends, his school and millions of people across the country, he said. He tweeted: “What did you do @ POTUS?” Later, he lay awake in a hotel bed too exhausted to sleep, he said. Early the next morning, he had his first interview with CNN. A makeup crew powdered his face and he recounted the horror once more. Finally, he sat in the back of his parents’ car as they drove back home to Parkland. “That was easily the most tiring day of my life,” he said. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act took effect less than three weeks after Abzug met with state legislators. It allotted more than $69 mil-
Seeking a keeper
lion toward mental health resources; required every Florida public school to have at least one school safety officer on campus; as well as increased surveillance of social media, law enforcement and juvenile justice records to identify potential threats. It was a step in the right direction, Abzug said, but it didn’t go far enough. Since the act passed, Abzug has participated in nationally televised interviews and written opinion articles to advocate for the gun reform he believes is necessary: a semi-automatic assault weapons ban, universal background checks and a licensed psychologist in every school. “Keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 priority.” Abzug also helped launch a pen-pal program between the sur-
The UF Quidditch team is headed to a regional championship this weekend, pg. 3
Love is concrete
The story behind a love message outside Matherly, pg. 7
vivors of the Parkland and Columbine shootings. He texts Heather Martin and Jami Amo, two Columbine survivors, often — sometimes weekly. They’re about 15 years older than Abzug, and he’s never met them in person. Still, their friendships are some of his most natural, he said. They help each other navigate situations that few of Abzug’s peers have experience with, he said. Like the question: Where did you go to high school? “I say, ‘I went to Stoneman Douglas,’” he said. “Then you get the reaction. Their eyes get all wide and then they ask, ‘Oh, well you weren’t there, were you?’ and you say ‘Yeah.’” People should keep some questions to themselves, he said. Abzug still thinks about the
SEE MSD, PAGE 6
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