🔍 Three years after losing their son Joaquin in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, his parents sat down with CGTN Stringer to unpack America's gun crisis. Their message? \"We're trapped in a deadly feedback loop,\" they argue, as fear-driven gun purchases fuel more violence.
💔 The Olivers described holding their 17-year-old's bullet-ridden backpack after the massacre: \"This is what remains of our child's dreams.\" Yet while their grief remains raw, they observe a disturbing national pattern: \"Every tragedy makes people buy more guns. How does that make sense?\"
📈 Data backs their concern – Small Arms Analytics reports U.S. firearms sales jumped from 13M to 22.8M between 2018-2022. \"We’re treating symptoms with the disease itself,\" Joaquin’s father lamented, holding up protest art from youth-led movements like #NeverAgain.
🌪️ As lockdown drills replace fire drills in schools, the family asks: \"When did this become normal?\" Their story exposes the human cost of America’s unbroken cycle of trauma → fear → arming → repeat.
