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TCU Professor Says Public Should Take Florida School Shooting Survivors Seriously

FORT WORTH (CBS11) -  The new face of the push for gun reform in the country has become that of the student survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

After 17 of their classmates and teachers were murdered in this country's most recent mass shooting, they have sounded off vowing to do everything they can to prevent another similar attack.

Parkland Students, Activists, Rally At Florida State Capitol For Gun Control
Lorenzo Prado, a student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, speaks at the Florida State Capitol building on February 21, 2018 in Tallahassee, Florida. (credit: Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)

Aside from marches and demonstrations, the students have been on national television, they have faced off with law makers in Tallahassee, participated in chat session with the President in the White House and last night participated in a nationally-televised town hall with U.S lawmakers and an NRA spokesperson.

In many instances the students have vehemently taken on politicians and pressed them on questions over lack of action on gun control.

That movement, spearheaded by teens who many are barely old enough to drive, has caught the attention of TCU professor Dr. Jim Riddlesperger.

"I'm delighted to hear the teenagers are taking a role in this," said Dr. Riddlesperger.

He says the students efforts are to be taken seriously despite their young ages.

"They are the future of this country. They have a lot at stake in this. More than an older adults do," he said.

The movement jolted with energy on behalf of the students has encouraged a national conversation.

Now, those analyzing the students efforts will wait to see just how much influence their pleas will have in Congress and in the divisive debate over gun control.

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