Philip Levine and a thousand protesters descend on state Capitol

The flow of protesters out of the Tucker Civic Center parking lot onto Madison Avenue continued for more than eight minutes. An estimated crowd of 1,200 from all corners of the state had filed into buses and cars in the middle of the night to answer a call to be at the state Capitol by 11 a.m. and demand change.

“Let it rain, let it rain. These are the tears, let them rain upon us,” House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz said to the group as a February shower greeted their arrival to the halls of power.

Republican leaders of Florida government responded Friday to the Valentine Day’s massacre at a high school with a package that seeks to arm teachers, make it easier to take someone into custody on suspicion of mental illness, and create a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases under most circumstances.

But it was clear from last week’s protest organized by student survivors of the Parkland killings many want an assault weapons ban and began organizing.

“Floridians are tired of seeing the lives of innocent people taken, the majority of people polled are for the banning of assault weapons,” said the Rev. Joe Parramore, of Florida Clergy United. “When is this body going to listen to their constituents?”

Parramore was among the retirees, mothers, grandfathers and teenagers who answered Democratic gubernatorial candidate Philip Levine’s call to meet him on the Capitol and pressure lawmakers to change state gun policy.

He and others crowded on a pavilion between the Capitol’s dolphin statue and House Office Building to listen to the candidate speak.

“They are trying to run out the clock,” Levine said about the leaders of state government. “They are trying to figure out how to keep the ball and do nothing. We want them to ban those assault rifles in Florida.”

The crowd cheered and chanted: “Why not? Why not? Why not?”

Andy Oliver stood under an oak tree in a vain attempt to stay dry while others climbed a hill to protest state gun policy. He rejected the notion that the protest he was a part of was more about politicians than it was a discussion of gun policy.

"The 45 people I got on a bus with at 3:30 this morning in St. Petersburg are not here for Philip Levine,” said Oliver, pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church.

In a briefcase, he had 50 letters for Florida lawmakers from members of his congregation that could not make the trip and want an assault weapons ban.

“They are here for the 17 killed at Parkland and the students who survived and are leading this movement.”

Reporter James Call can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com.