Florida heroes honored; views shifting on guns

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.

However, the Florida state House has voted down a motion to take up a bill that would ban assault rifles, but a Florida Senate committee has endorsed a proposal to put law enforcement officers in every school in the state.

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.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Tuesday that a listening session will be held at the White House on Wednesday for parents, teachers, and students to discuss efforts to ensure safety at schools. The attendees will include people from Parkland.

In a related development, three junior  ROTC 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.