Passionate students asked the congressman about NRA support, gun reform
By Cammie Bellamy StarNews StaffWILMINGTON -- In the nearly three months since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Wilmington-area students have organized marches, walk-outs and conversations about gun control. On Thursday, they sat down with their Congressman, Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C.
The conversation, held at the New Hanover County government complex, saw students question the congressman about his staunch support for access to guns, and whether he was willing to support gun control or mental health reform measures. The private talk came a month after Rouzer declined student activists' invitation to public town hall.
Students questioned Rouzer about his willingness to accept donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the wake of Parkland.
"Where do you think the NRA gets their money?'," Rouzer asked in response. "There are tens of thousands of NRA members in the seventh congressional district who are law-abiding, good citizens. They are farmers, they are doctors, they are teachers, they are lawyers, they are your neighbors. And they have a fundamental right to have the weapon of their choice in accord with the Second Amendment."
Cultural issues
At one of its more heated moments, the conversation turned to culture. Citing his Southern Baptist faith, Rouzer argued that societal issues were more to blame than guns for school shootings, which he noted were rare when he was in school.
"What I am saying is that society, culturally, has degenerated over a long period of time, that’s part of the issue here," he said. "I personally believe that when you take God out of the public square, Satan enters that void. You have all these nasty video games, you have these bloody movies, all that input does damage to
