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Emma Gonzalez slams Florida vote against gun ban

Emma González, the young face of the growing anti-gun movement in the US, has reacted angrily to a Florida senate committee’s vote against an assault weapon ban.

Florida’s Senate Rules Committee debated several gun control measures for more than two hours on Tuesday (Australian time) before agreeing to raise the minimum age for firearm purchases to 21 and approving legislation that would give teachers the right to carry guns in schools.

But the committee voted 7-6 against a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons like the AR-15 used in the Parkland school shooting.

The amendments were added to a package of legislation progressing through Florida’s parliament in response to the massacre.

Ms González, now famous for an emotive speech ‘calling BS’ on Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association (NRA), reacted angrily to the vote, telling her thousands of followers: “They are actively rooting for our deaths now.”

“I can’t believe I actually thought they would accomplish anything before this midterm election,” she wrote on Twitter, referring to the upcoming elections half-way through President Trump’s term.

“They’re making it so easy for us to vote them out? It’s beyond ludicrous.

“Y’all are lucky I don’t curse on here.

“I have no words. They are actively rooting for our deaths now.”

In recent days, Ms González has almost doubled the number of Twitter followers of the NRA gun lobby, as the anti-gun movement gains serious traction in the US.

In response to the Florida vote, the NRA has pushed back against any outright ban, but has shown support for additional regulations on ‘bump stocks’ – devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire similarly to fully automatic weapons.

President Trump has also supported a ban on bump stocks, as well as stronger background checks on gun buyers and the arming of teachers in schools.

-With AAP

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