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Gun rights advocates push back against Parkland shooting response

The survivors of the Parkland, Florida shooting have reignited the gun debate. The ‘March For Our Lives’ drew hundreds of thousands of people to Washington, D.C...

The survivors of the Parkland, Florida shooting have reignited the gun debate.

The ‘March For Our Lives’ drew hundreds of thousands of people to Washington, D.C. and to similar events around the world including, about 13-thousand people to the State Capitol in Hartford.

However, gun rights supporters are pushing back.

“I do think it is ironic that it is ironic that they are actually using their first amendment rights to speak on behalf of eradicating our very own second amendment rights as well,” said Scott Wilson, President of Connecticut Citizens Defense League.

Wilson said his group supports school safety but insists it shouldn’t cost him and gun supporters their second amendment rights.

“I have been saying for years, especially since Sandy Hook, that there needs to be something to stop crazy people from going into school and mass murdering children,” Wilson said.

Wilson does not believe the solution lies in gun restrictions

“People need to be safe in our society and I think the idea of disarming law abiding citizens because that’s what some are calling for, is the entirely wrong approach for this matter,” he said.

The NRA went even further over the weekend and issued a controversial response to Saturday’s ‘March For Our Lives’ events.

“You want to save innocent lives, take the millions of dollars going to this carnival of a march and hire armed guards in schools all over the country,” an NRA spokesman said. “But then these kids would have to shrink from the spotlight and go back to their homework.”

Wilson also supports the idea of more armed guards at schools.

And he is in favor of ideas like more security cameras and bullet proof glass for schools, an increase in response time to schools from law enforcement and arming teachers if necessary.

“I’m not saying all teachers should be armed or every teacher should be armed. Certainly some faculty members would be beneficial in a situation like that,” he said.

Gun control supporters including, Senator Chris Murphy disagree and instead call for legislation such as universal background checks.

“Universal background checks is supported by 97 percent of Americans,” Murphy said during Saturday’s ‘March For Our Lives’ event in Hartford. “Yet the NRA still opposes it. 97 percent of Americans shouldn’t have to work this hard to get their way.”

For now the debate continues.

“The other side should understand that this does not have to be all one way or all the other way,” Wilson said.

Wilson said he is also in favor of measures that restrict people who are mentally unfit to have guns from getting their hands on them.

However, he said due process should always be used in these instances to protect everyone’s constitutional rights.

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