Families Are Forever, Parkland Strong tells the story of a Colombian family facing the psychological consequences of a mass shooting that took place on Valentine's day of 2018 in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Claudia, Nicolas and Camila confess their personal experiences from the day of the shooting and how they turned themselves into activism as the best way to heal from all the emotional trauma of losing their friends.
Claudia Fajardo, who was born in Colombia, moved to Parkland, Florida looking for a safe place to raise her two children, Nicolas and Camila Fraser. According to the National Council for Home Safety and Security, Parkland was the safest city in Florida in 2017 and it moved to the third place in 2018. However, on the 14th of February of 2018, Valentine's Day, 17 people lost their lives in a mass shooting that took place in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where Nicolas attend. Other 17 people were injured as well. That day Nicolas and Claudia lost two of their friends, Alex Schachter and Gina Montalto. Also, one of their best friends, Ashley Baez, was shot in the leg.
Convicted murderer 18-1958 (inmate number), who turned 20 on September 24 of 2018, was only 18 years old when he legally bought the firearm he used in the shooting in a gun store called Sunrise Tactical. It was a high speed assault rifle AR-15. This semi-automatic gun is known as a weapon of war. According to the police of Coral Springs, at least three Broward County sheriff's officers were waiting outside the building during the shooting. (Florida Sun Sentinel)
Even when the professionally armed police officers failed to do their job of taking care of the kids, one of the most controversial proposals of the government at that point suggested arming teachers as a solution. Outraged students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School created Never Again MSD, an organization that advocates for stricter regulation in gun sales. They also organized March for Our Lives, a demonstration that took place on March 24, 2018, in Washington, D.C., with over 800 sibling events all over the United States and around the world. Demonstrators were demanding universal background checks, to raise the legal age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21 in a national level, and to ban assault rifles of high capacity like AK-47 and AR-15.
According to the Washington Post, more than 800,000 people attended to the march in Washington D. C. and more than 2,000,000 attendees protested across the nation. March for Our Lives was the third largest demonstration in the history of the United States.
In March, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act which raised the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, required a three-day waiting period for gun purchases and banned the sale or possession of bump fire stocks. However, this act only applies to the state of Florida. Immediately, the National Rifle Association filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Florida and even when the federal government have not taken action in gun control after the shooting, many cities and states have taken gun regulation matters into their own hands.
Claudia never thought that the life of her family would take such an unexpected course that Valentine's Day. Months after the shooting, her family is still facing the psychological consequences of such a traumatizing tragedy. In this documentary, Claudia, Nico and Camila tell us how the Parkland community is surviving the aftermath of the mass shooting that abruptly changed the childhood of the students of MSD and the lives of many families in Parkland, Florida.
