 And now we're marching for some gun safety. And we are going to make a difference. Politicians couldn't get it done. And with all due respect to the teachers, I'm a teacher. The teachers couldn't get it done. And the parents and the grandparents couldn't get it done. But I'll tell you who's going to get it done. It's going to be the youth of America. That's who it is. It won't happen here. Can no longer be an expectation. Since Columbine, more than 187,000 students have experienced a shooting on campus during school hours. The 17 students who lost their lives in a building that should be an oasis for learning needed laws that prevented Nicholas Cruz from obtaining his self-described arsenal. Because of that, we students, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens across the country are marching as a call for our legislators to take this issue as seriously as those who enter a workplace every day, where they can no longer expect that it won't happen here. My daughter went to Brainerd High School, and she's currently enrolled in college. When she's done with college, she's going to be an elementary teacher. Never once did I ever think about the fact that she'll have to deal with school shootings all of her life until a couple weeks ago. Not only will she need to think about herself, she will need to think about the safety of the kids in the classroom, whether she's doing everything she can to protect them, not only from outsiders, but from each other. As I reflected this morning, I thought about Columbine and Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Virginia Tech, Sutherland Springs, San Ysidro, Orlando, San Bernadito, Aurora, Parkland, the names of these places, and many, many more. Ring in our ears and tear at our hearts. Imagine if instead of spending millions and millions of dollars to turn schools into prisons with metal detectors and armed guards, we invested in schools enough to reduce class sizes so that teachers would be able to give each child the attention they deserve. And I don't want to see anybody or any of our schools turn into a prison just so that they can be safe, because that is not the problem. The problem is the runaway NRA and politicians not standing up and listening to the people. And my fear is that one day I'll get a call. There's been a school children. I'm sorry. Your wife has been a victim. My grandchildren has been a victim. My daughter may have been a victim. And I don't want to wish that on anybody, because I love them. Here in Minnesota, a bipartisan group of senators wish to present a bill requiring universal background checks, a measure that would prevent no questions asked online sales and keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them. According to a January Star Tribune poll, 82% of Minnesotans support this common sense change. Need we remind these legislators who they work for? You can have as many shells in your gun as you want when you're shooting people in church, giving praise to the Lord. You can have as many shells in your gun as you want when you're shooting Saturday night revelries. That's the time to have a little fun. You can shoot as many shells in your gun as you want, as many shells as you want when you're shooting children in our schools. Is that wrong? Should we give people the same kind of protection we give to ducks? Are you ready for a ban on assault weapons? Are you a ban on high capacity magazines? Are you a ban for a ban on bump stocks? Are you forgetting the people who need mental health treatment in this country, the treatment that they need to deal with the torments that are going through their minds, leading them to the tragic consequences? Are you ready? Yes. Any time you stand up, like you are here today, for things that are important, things that are essential, things that are noble, things that are idealistic, and things that bring us to a better place, you cannot fail. And I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. You are successful because people are enlightened as of what they've seen you do. People are educated as a result of seeing what you have done. Other people get the courage to stand up and do what you are advocating. And those are the building blocks that makes accomplishment of progress and idealistic notions and of reality. So hats off to every one of you.