Florida school shooting: Tearful students arrive in state capital for gun control rally

Students from the Florida high school attacked by a shooter last week have arrived in the state capital of Tallahassee to demand a ban on assault-style rifles.

The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which saw 17 teens and staff members killed, has reignited a national debate about gun control laws in the US.

The students were tearful as they stepped off a bus in Tallahassee on Tuesday to be welcomed with waves, cheers and sombre applause from fellow teens.

"We're here to make sure this never happens again," Diego Pfeiffer, a senior at Stoneman, told the crowd.

It came on the same day the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives rebuffed a bid to bring up a bill to block sales of assault-style rifles in the state.

"I am not going back to school until lawmakers, and the president, change this law," said Tyra Hemans, 19, who travelled to the state capital.

"Three people I looked to for advice and courage are gone but never forgotten, and for them, I am going to our state capital to tell lawmakers we are tired and exhausted of stupid gun laws," he added.

The students are due to stage a rally alongside parents at the statehouse on Wednesday.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student expelled from Stoneman Douglas High for disciplinary problems, was arrested and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Authorities say he was armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 assault-style rifle that he legally purchased from a licensed gun dealer last year, when he was 18.

Former classmates have described Cruz as a social outcast and trouble-maker with a fascination for guns, and police have acknowledged responding to numerous calls related to Cruz during the past few years.

Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and George and Amal Clooney have all offered to donate $500,000 (£350,000) to help fund a planned gun control march in Washington on March 24.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he intends to ban “bump stock” devices, which allow guns to be fired more rapidly and were used in the Las Vegas mass shooting last year.

He has come under increased pressure to impose gun restrictions in the wake of last week's shooting rampage in Parkland.