Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15) today announced he will bring Cameron Kasky, a student activist and survivor of the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., as his guest to the 2019 State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 5.
Kasky, 18, co-founded the student-led Gun Violence Prevention advocacy group Never Again MSD, and helped organize the March for Our Lives nationwide student protest in March 2018.
"Too many families, friendships, and communities across our nation have been torn apart by gun violence. It's time this epidemic be met with real action -- not moments of silence and thoughts and prayers," said Swalwell. "The shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., happened while I was in congressional orientation in December 2012, and I figured Congress would have to act. As Republicans stymied all efforts since then, I started to grow frustrated -- but the clear, loud, unwavering voices of the Parkland generation have inspired me to renew our efforts."
"In the face of unimaginable tragedy, Cameron Kasky has shown remarkable strength. He stands at the forefront of the fight for action to address gun violence, bringing thousands of his peers together to demand we finally do something. I'm proud to have Cameron join me at the Capitol, nearly one year after he faced a horror no kid should endure at school, to continue this fight, because there is no right more important than the right to live."
"I am very excited to join Rep. Swalwell for the State of the Union so we can have meaningful discussions about how we can take action to tackle gun violence for the horrific epidemic it is," said Kasky. "Rep. Swalwell is one of the most effective change makers out there these days and I'm proud to stand alongside him in this fight."
The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 were killed and 17 more were injured by a gunman armed with an AR-15- style semi-automatic rifle, was one of 24 school shootings in 2018, and one of at least 20 shootings in 2018 in which four or more people were killed. Nearly 15,000 people died due to gun violence in 2018.
Swalwell, like Kasky, has been a frequent advocate for taking action to address gun violence. Last year, Swalwell proposed a plan to ban assault weapons and buy them back and introduced the No Guns for Abusers Act to help protect domestic violence victims from being murdered with guns.