Senator Marco Rubio was slammed as 'pathetically weak' Wednesday night as parents and victims of the massacre in Parkland, Florida, took the stage to confront him at a Town Hall meeting.

Rubio received a chorus of boos when he said that a ban on assault weapons would not have prevented the fatal shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The Town Hall meeting was hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper, who noted at the beginning that President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Rick Scott both denied requests to attend.

One of the first parents to take the stage was Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was shot in the back as she ran away from the shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, on Valentines Day.

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Senator Marco Rubio was slammed as 'pathetically weak' Wednesday night as parents and victims of the massacre in Parkland, Florida, took the stage to confront him in a Town Hall meeting

One of the first parents to take the stage was Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was shot in the back as she ran away from the shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, on Valentines day

The Town Hall meeting was hosted by CNN 's Jake Tapper, who noted at the beginning that President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Rick Scott both denied request to attend. Pictured are Marjory Stoneman Douglas students at the Town Hall

'Your comments this week and those of our president are pathetically weak. Look at me and tell me you will do something about guns,' the bereaved father implored.

'Were guns a factor?'

Rubio did say that yes - guns were a factor, but insisted that an all-out ban on assault and semi-automatic weapons was not the answer.

'I will support the banning of bump stocks,' Rubio, who has received $9,900 in campaign donations from the National Rifle Association, said. A student at one point in the rally referred to these donations as 'blood money.'

'I think what you're asking is about the assault weapon ban. If I believed that the passing of that law would prevent this, I would support it, but it does not,' the senator continued.

He said his reason for not supporting the ban is because it would outlaw roughly 200 types of guns - assault rifles - while the purchase of over 2,000 types of 'nearly identical' guns would still be legal.

'Rather than try to chase every loophole that's created, we instead should make sure that dangerous criminals, people who are deranged, cannot buy any gun of any kind,' he said.

'That's what I believe a better answer will be.'

But Guttenberg didn't give up, and pointed out that it would at least be a start.

Rubio went on to say he believes men like Cruz shouldn't be able to buy any kind of gun, and said he doesn't think 18-year-olds should be able to purchase firearms either.

'I absolutely believe that in this country if you are 18 years of age you should not be able to buy a rifle an I will support a law that takes that right away,' he said.

Bringing up the influence that the NRA has on politicians in the United States - student survivor Cameron Kasky took the podium to ask the senator if he would stop accepting donations from the organization in the future

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and parents wait for the CNN town hall to begin

Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcle spoke before the town hall on Wednesday night

Bringing up the influence that the NRA has on politicians in the United States - student survivor Cameron Kasky took the podium to ask the senator if he would stop accepting donations from the organization in the future.

The question sparked a debate between the high school junior and Rubio, who said he would not refuse future NRA donations because 'people buy into my agenda - and I do support the Second Amendment.

'I will always accept the help of anyone who agrees with my agenda.'

The crowd once again erupted in with waves of loud booing.

Another student, Ryan Schnachter, whose younger brother Alex was killed in the massacre, told his Congressman that he and his friends are now afraid to go back to be school.

'My friends and I are worried that we are going to be murdered in our classrooms,' he said.

'What reassurances can you give me, and what specifically are you going to do to make sure we don't have this fear?'

Florida Representative Ted Deutch, a Democrat, said he couldn't offer any help immediately, but could just tell the teenager where he stands and what he plans to do when he's back in Washington.

'As a starter, next week when we go back to Washington, we're going to introduce legislation to make sure that assault weapons are illegal in every part of this country,' he assured Schachter.

'The best way for us to show that is to take action in Washington, in Tallahassee, to get these weapons of war off of our streets.'

Florida Representative Ted Deutch, a Democrat, said he couldn't offer any help immediately to students who were afraid to go to school because they were worried they might be murdered. He said the best thing to do would be to wait until they were back in Washington

Senior Ryan Deitsch thanked Rubio for his time, and didn't quiz him on specific policy points, but instead questioned why it was up to the students to prevent these attacks from happening.

'Why do we have to be the ones to do this? Why do we have to speak out to the capitol?' he asked the politician.

'Why do we have to march on Washington, just to safe innocent lives?'

A senior who survived the shooting, Chris Grady, told Rubio that students need lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to come together now more than ever.

'We need you and your colleagues on both sides to come together with us and find compromise if we are to ever solve this epidemic that is plaguing our country,' he elegantly implored.

He then asked Rubio to agree that there is 'no place in our society for large-capacity magazines capable of firing 15 to 30 rounds, and if not, more.'

Rubio said he was glad someone asked him that question, admitting that after last week's tragedy he was reconsidering his previous stance on this issue.

'I traditionally have not supported looking at magazine clip size,' Rubio explained.

'And after this and some of the details I've learned about it, I'm reconsidering that position. And I'll tell you why. Because while it may not prevent an attack, it may save lives in an attack.'

Also on the podium were local politicians, including Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.

Tapper asked Nelson if it was a mistake that Democrats didn't address gun control in 2009 and 2010 when they controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, to which Nelson responded an easy yes.

'When the Senate had 60 votes, as we did, until Ted Kennedy died, that’s how we got the Affordable Care Act passed, and yes, gun legislation under those circumstances should have been considered, because there had been a lot of massacres up to that point.' he said.

But now, he explained, there aren't many senators who will work to pass new gun control laws, particularly because so many have been financially supported by the NRA.

Senior Ryan Deitsch thanked Rubio for his time, and didn't quiz him on specific policy points, but instead questioned why it was up to the students to prevent these attacks from happening

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel today ordered deputies in schools in the area to Cary rifles on school grounds. But when asked what he thought about arming teachers, he said he 'absolutely' doesn't think teachers should be armed

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch was also at the event to field questions from survivors and explain the organization's stance on gun restrictions or other laws to prevent further tragedies

Loesch told students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that she was fighting for them, but explained that tighter gun laws wouldn't change things. Instead she said that the majority of the blame is in the hands of the authorities who ignored signs

The comments prompted Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel to interrupt her and say she wasn't genuine in her claim she stands with the students. 'You're not standing up for them until you say, I want less weapons,' he said

THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION'S STATEMENT AGAINST IMPLEMENTING AGE RESTRICTIONS Federal law prohibits adults under the age of 21 from purchasing a handgun from a licensed firearm dealer. Legislative proposals that prevent law-abiding adults aged 18-20 years old from acquiring rifles and shotguns effectively prohibits them [from] purchasing any firearm, thus depriving them of their Constitutional right to self-protection. We need serious proposals to prevent violent criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from acquiring firearms. Passing a law that makes it illegal for a 20 year-old to purchase a shotgun for hunting or an adult single mother from purchasing the most effective self-defense rifle on the market punishes law-abiding citizens for the evil acts of criminals. Advertisement

When it was back to Rubio, one of the teachers at the school at the time of the attack took the stage and asked why the president and other Republican lawmakers were proposing teachers be armed on school grounds.

'I'm a registered Republican. I voted for Mr Trump. I still, you know, support the Second Amendment,' Ashley Kruth, a culinary instructor at Stoneman Douglas, said.

'When I had hundreds of terrified children that were running at me, my question to that is, am I supposed to get extra training now to serve and protect on top of educate these children?'

Rubio, though, explained that he was at odds with the president over this particular issue.

'The notion that my kids are going to school with teachers that are armed with a weapon is not something that, quite frankly, I'm comfortable with.'

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel today ordered deputies in schools in the area to Cary rifles on school grounds. But when asked what he thought about arming teachers, he said he 'absolutely' doesn't think teachers should be armed.

'I believe teachers should teach,' Sheriff Israel said.

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch was also at the event to field questions from survivors and explain the organization's stance on gun restrictions or other laws to prevent further tragedies.

Loesch told students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that she was fighting for them, but explained that tighter gun laws wouldn't change things. Instead she said that the majority of the blame is in the hands of the authorities who ignored signs.

The comments prompted Broward County Sheriff Israel to interrupt her and say she wasn't genuine in her claim she stands with the students.

'You just told this group of people that you are standing up for them,' he said.

'You're not standing up for them until you say, I want less weapons.'

The comment made the room erupt in cheers and applause, and silenced Loesch for a few moments.

President Trump was captured bowing his head during Wednesday's White House listening session with families and victims of school shootings. He offered his grief and condolences to the victims and their families multiple times throughout the sit-down

The Town Hall meeting came just hours after President Trump held a meeting at the White House with some of the victims and families of the Parkland shooting.

He told the survivors of the shooting and their parents that he grieved for them during the listening session at the White House, in which many of the guests implored the president to take immediate action on gun violence.

The meeting came as thousands of high schoolers held walkouts and protests around the country to bring attention to gun control.

Parkland parent Andrew Pollack, who is an avid Trump supporter, told the president he was 'pissed' as he described his daughter Meadow's horrific death to the president and other families present - she was shot nine times.

'I'm very angry that this happened, because it keeps happening,' the bereaved father said, declaring that 9/11 'happened once, and they fixed everything. How many schools, how many children have to get shot?'

Pollack told Trump: 'It stops here with this administration and me. I'm not going to sleep until it's fixed. And Mr. President, we're going to fix it. Because I'm going to fix it. I'm not going to rest.

'Fix it! It should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it! And I'm pissed! Because my daughter I'm not going to see again. She's not here. She's not here. She's at, in North Lauderdale, in King David Cemetery. That's where I go to see my kid now.'

After listening to parents like Pollack for some time, Trump said he'd be looking at making concealed carry permits available to teachers, which he admitted after asking for a show of support is certainly 'controversial.'

Pollack is seen on the day of the shooting, holding up a picture of his daughter, whom he had not been able to contact since the massacre that claimed 17 lives

Andrew Pollack (center), who is an avid Trump supporter, described how his daughter Meadow Pollack was shot nine at last week's deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He was joined by his sons at Wednesday's White House event

Trump also endorsed stricter background checks and pledged his administration to considering age limits for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles like the one the Parkland shooter used and new measures to treat mentally ill individuals.

'We're going to pick out the strongest ideas, the most important ideas, the ideas that are going to work and we're going to get them done,' the president said. 'It's not going to be talk, like it's been in the past. It's going on too long. Too many instances. And we're going to get it done.'

Parkland parent Carey Gruber pleaded with Trump to abandon partisan politics and take up reforms that will prevent shootings like the one that could have killed his son Justin.

'It's not left and right, it's a human issue, and we have to stop this,' Gruber told the Republican president.

President Trump was holding his first of two listening sessions at the White House this week on the topic of school safety.

Students of Coral Glades High School, a high school less than four miles from the Parkland shooting scene, hold signs as the participate in a school walk for gun law change

The discussion with parents and teachers connected to the Parkland, Florida, shooting included more than a dozen student survivors who also urged Trump to take action.

Parents and students affected by the Sandy Hook and Columbine shootings were in the room, as well, alongside local teachers and students who put a spotlight on D.C.'s local crime problem.

The president spoke briefly at the top, and sympathetically asked questions several times in the middle of the meeting that aired live on national television.

Trump promised midway through attendees' passionate accounts that 'two minutes after this meeting' he would begin working on the issue of gun violence in schools and we will 'solve it together.'

'And we don't want others to go through the kind of pain that you've gone through,' he told them.

The president broached the topic of armed guards in school, adding, 'I think a lot of people are going to be opposed to it. A lot of people are going to like it. But the good thing is that you'll have a lot of people with that.'

Students marched outside of the White House all day on Wednesday as Trump prepared to hold the listening session. Also in attendance was Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.