ORLANDO, Fla. _ Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, urged a crowd of dozens at the Orlando Museum of Art on Saturday to fight for research funding to study gun violence.
The rallying cry drew cheers from the crowd, many of whom hoisted signs that read "Gun laws save lives" and "Gun violence prevention research now."
Giffords, who co-founded the gun violence prevention organization Americans for Responsible Solutions with her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, took the stage briefly after greeting many people individually.
"Now is the time to come together, be responsible. Democrats, Republicans, everyone," she said. "We must never stop fighting."
Rallying with Giffords were representatives from the League of Women Voters, doctors representing state and national medical associations and Pulse nightclub massacre survivor Ricardo Negron-Almodovar, who called out lawmakers like U.S. Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, both Florida Republicans, for doing "nothing to address gun violence the Pulse shooting," he said.
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat who spearheaded efforts last year to lift a ban on gun violence research and successfully lobbied the House of Representatives to approve $50 million for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to fund research, called on the U.S. Senate to do the same. The plea was repeated numerous times by speakers, who expressed outrage over the decadeslong restrictions barring research on gun violence.
The speakers repeatedly stressed statistics that show the U.S. has the highest number of gun deaths of any developed nation.
"We can and we must take responsible steps to ensure that the CDC and the NIH conduct the public health research that can help develop evidence-based interventions that will save lives," Murphy said.
The funding would make it possible for researchers who study school violence to collect data on gun safety and the psychological impacts of active shooter drills, said Dr. Dorothy Espelage, a researcher at University of Florida and who represented the Florida Psychological Association. Quoting a 2018 survey, Espelage said 75% of people 15 to 21 years old stated that their biggest source of fear and stress on a daily basis was "fear of mass shootings at my school," she said.
"We're not studying gun violence, but we're putting more guns in schools," she said.
Doctors representing the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Student Association, the American College of Physicians and This is Our Lane recounted their experiences treating patients who suffer gunshot wounds and consoling their family members.
Dr. Jason Goldman, an internal medicine specialist in Coral Springs, said patients of his who were impacted by the Parkland shooting "will never be the same."
"Trust me when I say that when it comes to firearms violence, this is our lane," he said.
Several people at the rally said they wanted to support research because they believed gun violence was "out of control" in the U.S.
Melissa Vorghorst, who was an English teacher at DeLand High School for more than two decades, said she "can't imagine" conducting active shooter training in school and that she feels unsafe in many places, even church.
"There doesn't seem to be any safe place," she said.
