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Signage on FAMU\u2019s campus. [Jalen Daffin\/FAMUAN]<\/p>\n
Florida A&M University students are organizing around gun violence prevention and calling on lawmakers to prioritize public safety and reform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Established in January 2024, FAMU\u2019s chapter of\u00a0Students Demand\u00a0Action\u00a0advocates\u00a0for \u201ccommon-sense gun laws\u201d in a state known for its expansive gun rights. The organization works to equip students with the knowledge, skills and training needed to engage with the public,\u00a0media\u00a0and policymakers about gun safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SDA President\u00a0Elisha McDowell\u00a0said the group\u2019s goal is to\u00a0educate and\u00a0encourage open conversations about gun violence, particularly within Black communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMost students have been directly or indirectly affected by gun violence at some point in their lives, and I want to encourage them to get involved because this problem disproportionately affects Black people,\u201d McDowell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She defined \u201ccommon-sense gun\u00a0laws\u201d as\u00a0including secure firearm storage, proper\u00a0registration\u00a0and mandatory background checks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cAs of\u00a0right now, we are against HB 133, which would lower the minimum age to purchase a gun from 21 to 18,\u201d McDowell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McDowell\u2019s commitment to the cause began after a shooting at a party she attended in her hometown of East Cleveland, Ohio. She later attended\u00a0Gun Sense University 2024, a national conference hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety, where she noticed a lack of Black youth representation in the conversation about gun violence prevention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was determined to get more Black students involved to show that we are not just a statistic,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are people who struggle and fight against the systemic racism and oppression that affect our communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite being a\u00a0relatively new\u00a0organization, McDowell said SDA is making progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAdvocacy is about showing up even when you think you have no supporters,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about raising awareness for what you believe in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McDowell said that while SDA is gaining traction, some students hesitate to join because they view the organization as too political. She hopes to change that\u00a0perception.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that students are intimidated by our organization because it is political, but times are showing that everything about our lives is political \u2014 down to the food that we eat,\u201d McDowell said. \u201cStudents can support us by taking a leap of faith to join us and share our message.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
FAMU\u2019s SDA chapter has partnered with several campus and community organizations, including\u00a0RISE Tallahassee,\u00a0Big Brother Little Brother Inc., the\u00a0Alpha Xi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.,\u00a0NCNW\u00a0and\u00a0NABCJ.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group will host\u00a0\u201cNight at the Flame\u201d\u00a0on Nov. 20 to honor lives lost to gun violence and encourage students to get involved in prevention efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Students interested in joining the movement can text\u00a0STUDENT\u00a0to\u00a0644-33\u00a0to learn more about gun safety advocacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Signage on FAMU\u2019s campus. [Jalen Daffin\/FAMUAN] Florida A&M University students are organizing around gun violence prevention and calling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-56260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}