Florida heroes honored, views shift on gun control

Army to award three students as poll suggests support for changes

US voters are supporting stricter gun laws, according to two polls released on Tuesday, as survivors of the Florida high school where 17 teens and educators were gunned down in a shooting rampage pushed to reduce gun violence.

Meanwhile, the US Army announced it would honor three of the gunned down students who were Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets.

Voters support tightening gun laws by 66 to 31 percent, the highest level of support ever measured by the independent Quinnipiac University National Poll.

In an ABC News/Washington Post poll, 58 percent say stricter gun laws could have prevented the Feb 14 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Still more, 77 percent, believe improved mental health screening and treatment could have prevented the attack.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student of the Florida school who was expelled for disciplinary reasons, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and has not yet entered a plea.

Cruz's lawyers said there were many warning signs that he was mentally unstable and potentially violent. Yet he legally purchased a semi-automatic rifle, the Associated Press reported.

On Tuesday afternoon, a group of students who survived the Florida school shooting started a 400-mile trip to the state capital of Tallahassee to pressure lawmakers to act on a sweeping package of gun control laws, the AP reported.

Also on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he had signed a memo directing the Justice Department to propose regulations to "ban all devices" like bump stocks used in the October shooting deaths of 58 people in Las Vegas.

In a related development, three junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets who were killed in the Florida school shooting are being honored by the US Army.

The Medal of Heroism was presented to the family of 14-year-old Alaina Petty at a memorial service on Monday, the Army said, and one was given to the family of Peter Wang during his memorial service on Tuesday morning. The family of Martin Duque, also aged 14, will be given the medal on Saturday, the Army added.

The medal recognizes cadets whose performance "involved the acceptance of danger and extraordinary responsibilities".

The US Military Academy at West Point is posthumously admitting Peter, who had spent part of his childhood in his parents' native China and had dreamed of attending West Point, friends said.

Peter, 15, wearing his junior ROTC uniform, held open a door to allow his fellow classmates, teachers and staff to escape the shooting rampage, according to students and teachers.

An online petition to the White House sought military honors at Wang's funeral. It had more than 43,700 signatures as of Tuesday.

The petition needs 100,000 signatures by March 18 to get a response from the White House, according to whitehouse.gov.

Contact the writers at huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 02/22/2018 page12)