Students participate in 'die-in' to remember mass shooting victims

Two years after 49 people were gunned down at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, local student activists gathered outside the state Capitol on Tuesday to participate in National Die-In Day, a demonstration paying homage to the victims of mass shootings.

The “die-in” lasted for 12 minutes, as participants lay down for 700 seconds to represent the approximate number of lives lost due to mass shootings since the Pulse Nightclub massacre.

“I think mass shootings are becoming normalized and as a result, people are losing their empathy and becoming more apathetic towards them,” said Grace Jewell, 18, a recent graduate from Battleground Academy. "It’s becoming a part of our everyday lives and that's not OK."

More:James Shaw Jr. meets with Parkland shooting survivors

More:Opinion | Why I walked out of school and spoke to my peers about hope

Schools have been the focal point of a nationwide gun debate after several fatal mass shootings, including February's shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school.

‘We can’t just be numb to mass shootings and gun violence or it’s going to start happening more and more," said Sydney Coyle, 16, a student at Independence High School. “We’re not here to fight with lawmakers or the NRA. We’re here to communicate the mindset that America’s youth has right now.”

Halfway into the demonstration, the “die-in” was interrupted by Second Amendment advocates who stood in the middle of the silent students, placing copies of the U.S. Constitution on their bodies.

“We just wanted to make sure they had copies of the Constitution," said Cerise Bowes, vice president of a group called Freedom Rights. “Though they have every right to say what they feel, we don’t necessarily agree with them and we want our Constitution to stay intact.”