Anthony Rizzo urges stricter gun laws and defends 'bullied' Stoneman Douglas students!

Rizzo spoke before Thursday’s opener at Marlins Park, after spending a couple days back home in Parkland and watching his former high school baseball team play.

“I think these kids are standing up for what they believe in,” he said. “They’re motivating everyone to go out there and register to vote, which is amazing. That’s as powerful as they can make their voice heard — going out and vote.

“They’re holding the throttle down on all these politicians, holding them accountable for what they believe in. It’s just unbelievable how an entire nation is rallying around Stoneman Douglas High School.”

Rizzo, who spoke at the vigil at his former high school the day after the shooting, has hesitated to discuss gun control. But Thursday he said there need to be stricter laws.

“In a perfect word, make it stricter,” he said. “Make background checks a little harder to get these guns. I think it’s a little too easy to go in there and get a gun. I think the entire nation can agree on that.”

Rizzo invited the Stoneman Douglas baseball team to Marlins Park for Friday’s game, the second of the series. Some of the family members of victims will throw out the first pitch, as guests of the Marlins.

“It will be a tough one to see that for anyone who has a pulse,” Rizzo said. “It’s really cool how the Marlins have supported Douglas.”

Rizzo said it’s good “the cameras are not going away” and the kids “are really stepping up.” He said he hasn’t spoken to Emma Gonzalez or any of the student activists from Stoneman Douglas, but criticized those who feel it’s OK to rip the high school students for making their views known.

“You’ve got these extremists, the people going for all the guns laws, and going for the full extreme,” he said. “And you’ve got the other side that are defending (the students). ... I think the message is somewhere in the middle, that everyone can agree on.

“For them to get bullied on Twitter by some guy with strong fingers, I think it’s pretty funny. I know for a fact they’re not going to let anything affect them in their mission, because what they’re doing is bigger than themselves. It’s for a lot of people.”

Rizzo said those who’ve called the kids “actors” are “losers.”

Read More Here:
[link to www.chicagotribune.com]