Melania Trump "heartened" by Florida teen activists
First Lady Melania Trump said Monday that she was encouraged by the young activists who are speaking out in response to the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 students dead almost two weeks ago.
"I have been heartened to see children across this country using their voices to speak out and try to create change," she told the spouses of the nation's governors, who are in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting. "They are our future and they deserve a voice."
Mrs. Trump has stayed out of the public eye in recent months, but she spoke Monday during a luncheon at the White House as the NGA wraps up its annual Winter Meeting.
The children Mrs. Trump mentioned are the teens from the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, who have been making their voices heard at rallies, on television, and at town halls after the attack on their classmates. The students, demanding gun-restricting measures, have made a flurry of media appearances, rallied fellow teens on social media, and protested on Capitol Hill.
On their short list of goals: banning assault-type weapons, like the AR-15, the weapon gunman Nikolas Cruz allegedly used in the massacre.
"As I have said before, it is important that as adults, we take the lead and the responsibility in helping our children manage the many issues they are facing today," Melania Trump said.
Meanwhile, President Trump and the governors spent their morning discussing gun measures that might be taken in response to the mass shooting. Mr. Trump told the governors that bump stocks, or devices that attach to semi-automatic rifles to make them shoot at an automatic rate, are "gone."
The first couple hosted the governors and their spouses at a black tie dinner on Sunday evening where the president thanked the state leaders for their hard work.
He added that he's very proud of all the governors, saying they are "very, very special people" who do an "incredible" job.
