The yellow school bus has taken Manuel and Patricia Oliver far.
They have driven it around the country, from coast to coast, three times in the past five years, advocating for an end to gun violence on behalf of their son, Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was among the 17 killed in the Feb. 14, 2018, Parkland school shooting.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Olivers parked the retrofitted bus in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where their son, his schoolmates and multiple teachers were murdered by a 19-year-old former student who legally purchased the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle. The Olivers stood on the corner of Pine Island Road and Holmberg Road, holding up a giant sign that read: “Protect Kids” and “No on HB 133.”
Joaquin’s parents decried state lawmakers’ controversial consideration of a proposal to lower the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns from age 21 to 18. The Florida House of Representatives will consider the bill, HB 133, on Thursday.
Former Gov. Rick Scott signed into law broad reforms in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting, including raising the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21. At the time it passed, the NRA claimed the change violated the Second Amendment and quickly filed a lawsuit in federal court. The NRA has previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the matter.
The House has passed similar measures in recent years, but the Senate has not gone along. Supporters of this year’s bill, which is sponsored by House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island, said it would protect Second Amendment rights for people under age 21.
“In my view, this is the correct public policy to pursue, to restore the rights of law-abiding 18-year-olds,” Sirois said in December.
The consideration to reverse the age requirement is “a slap in our faces,” said Patricia Oliver. Some days the frustration they feel in constantly advocating for more gun control is hard to overcome, Manuel Oliver said, but if the law passes this session, they’ll continue traveling around the country, speaking out in honor of their son, “a thousand times.”
“I don’t have my kid with me. I cannot protect my son. I am not doing this for my son because I don’t have that chance anymore. However, these guys voting tomorrow, they have the chance to do the right thing for their kids and the rest of the kids,” Manuel Oliver said Wednesday afternoon.
A TV screen attached on the outside of the bus projected the Olivers’ message about HB 133: “Parkland learned this the hard way. Do not reverse the age limit to buy a gun. Keep 21+.”
The message urges anyone reading to tell lawmakers to vote against HB 133.
When driving the bus around the country, Manuel Oliver said he gets thumbs-up and middle fingers from passers-by, but more of the former than the latter. On one trip, while at a gas station “in the middle of nowhere,” a stranger paid for their gas, he said. Families with kids want to get inside and look around.
The bus is a needed reminder; communities want to forget about tragedies, Manuel Oliver said while driving on Pine Island Road.
In the eight years that have passed since his son’s murder, Manuel Oliver said while he has changed, he feels “nothing has been done to stop that from happening again.”
“You have to get involved. You have to raise your voice. Even if it’s one person, me and my wife on a school bus,” he said.
Among the gun legislative measures Manuel Oliver said he’d like to see are universal background checks, restrictions against the ability to purchase assault-style weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition and a mandate that anyone purchasing a gun be required to safely store it.
“The kid who killed my son, he bought assault weapons and a lot of ammunition … and that’s the pattern,” he said.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
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