Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouriinspired a group ofactiviststo set up 3 moving trucks with big, bold signs out in front of Senator Marco Rubio’s office late last week in protest of his stance on gun control.Three Billboardsis the Academy Award nominated movie that stars Frances McDormand’s character setting up 3 billboards to make a point to the local police who have not found the man who killed her daughter. The signs read, “Raped While Dying,” “And Still No Arrests?” “How Come, Chief Willoughby?” Those signs inspired the Avaaz activist group to stage the same kind of protest after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, earlier this week.
Floridais known for their relatively lax gun control laws, which were made even more lax when President Donald Trump signed a bill that made it easier for people with mental illnesses to obtain guns early last year. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who has received over $3 million in campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association, said that stricter gun control laws would not have prevented the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were shot and killed. Activist group Avaaz decided to take matters into their own hands and staged aThree Billboards-style protest in front of Rubio’s office in Florida.
The 3 moving trucks that Avaaz placed in front of Marco Rubio’s offices read, “Slaughtered In School,” “And Still No Gun Control?” “How Come, Marco Rubio?” The signs, just like the ones in the movie, were big and bold, but did not elicit an immediate response from therepublican senator. The moving trucks were also seen in downtown Miami and Little Havana. When asked why they set up the protest, Avaaz’s deputy director, Emma Ruby-Sachs, said.
“Florida has notoriously lax gun laws, and Rubio, who is supported by the NRA, has never attempted to reform them. The senator ranks as one of the highest recipients of NRA contributions and has received an A+ rating from the NRA.”
On Valentine’s Day, agunmanarmed with an AR-15-style rifle, which is a military-style weapon, walked on to the grounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He then started shooting and pulled the fire alarm in an effort to shoot as many people as possible. The young man had been previously reported to the FBI for remarks that he made on social media and local law enforcement had been to his home multiple times, but he was still able to purchase firearms in Florida.
The2nd amendmentand gun control are hot button topics in the United States where mass shootings happen often. The United States holds 5 percent of the world’s population but holds 31 percent of the world’s mass shootings and makes up nearly 50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned firearms. Senator Rubio has yet to respond to hisThree Billboards-inspired protest in front of his office. You can check out theThree Billboardsmoving trucks below, courtesy ofCNN’s Twitteraccount.
