SUNRISE, Fla. — As Florida State Sen. Shevrin Jones stood onstage in Sunrise, reading aloud the names of 31 victims gunned down May 14 at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, he burst into tears. He blamed the influence of gun lobbies. He blamed “ineffective leaders.” He blamed the uniquely American phenomenon that “10 people can be killed in broad daylight with an assault rifle.”
Some 15 local and state lawmakers who stood onstage with him patted his shoulders and bowed their heads. Some 200 volunteers and attendees standing on the amphitheater green did the same.
“I am convinced,” State Sen. Jones said, “that we’re going to organize and vote them out, so not one more child is raised in a society where gun violence exists.”
