NEW ORLEANS -- Survivors of the Parkland Stoneman Douglas High School shooting were in New Orleans Saturday night. They, along with activists, have been keeping the discussion about the gun violence going all summer, with a tour around the U.S.
The event was held at Tulane University's Lavin Bernick Center. The discussion brought out dozens of students, parents, and those in the community.
Before the panel started, Eyewitness News asked some who came to share their personal thoughts.
"Today, we're here to show that we as teens are going to voice our opinions on this issue and when it comes to gun violence, we're not going to keep silent on it, because our lives are at risk," Elliot Canty with March for Our Lives NOLA said.
"It's not people that are unknown to us, people in our community killing us, so I think if we learn to have more tolerance of each other, I think we can put an end to the senseless killing," Ashonta Wyatt with Mothers 2 Mothers explained.
"We have reached a point where the Second Amendment right for some people has invaded the life liberty and pursuit of happiness for everyone else. Unchecked gun access is not acceptable," Jason Naquin, a parent from Gonzales shared.
Shortly after the Parkland shooting, survivors established themselves as a voice for change. That's what led them to kick off this tour. Sofie Whitney was a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, she talked with Eyewitness News about the importance of the tour.
"I wouldn't want to be doing anything else with my summer because something really terrible happened to my community and I don't want anyone to ever have to suffer that again."
The mission is to get lawmakers to do something that will reduce gun violence, and rally people to vote for change.
"We're real people and there were real people that died that day and there are real people suffering from gun violence every single day."
Inside, panelists and those from the community shared their own personal experiences, talked about reforms relating to gun laws, and how to keep the discussion open, despite differences.
"Who here has a family member who they don't want to talk to about politics? In that case, I urge you all to talk to that person, try to reach out to that person," Parkland shooting survivor Ryan Servaites said.
The panelists left saying, if there's anything to take away from the event Saturday, it's to get out there and vote for change you believe in.
Jacqueline Quynh can be reached at jquynh@wwltv.com.