SEATTLE — Robert Schentrup plans to attend Sunday's Wear Orange Rally at Seattle's Sam Smith park in an effort to honor his sister, Carmen.
"It was really heartbreaking for us to have lost her when It seemed like she was just starting to become the woman that she wanted to be," he said.
On February 14, 2018, Carmen was one of the 17 victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Schentrup says long before that day, police were warned about the shooter on numerous occasions, and officers made visits to his home.
"In those visits it had a clearly established pattern of violent behavior," he said. "They had no tools available to them to remove firearms in order to have him receive the help that he needed, where as Extreme Risk Protection Orders would allow for just that."
Washington state already has Extreme Risk Protection Orders, allowing for the removal of firearms from someone who has demonstrated evidence that they pose a significant danger.
In the last legislative session, Senate Bill 5027 passed, extending Extreme Risk Protection Orders to minors.
On its website, the NRA highlights it as an anti-gun bill saying, "It could infringe upon the self-defense rights of the minor's law-abiding parents or others in the household without due process."
Schentrup disagrees.
"That can really perpetuate the false narrative. That is a slippery slope to 'all of our guns being taken away' because that is not at all what this legislation does," he said.
Schentrup is now focused on honoring his sister by advocating for change.
"We are trying to take a terrible thing that happened to us, and help try and make this country a better place out of it," he said.
On Friday night, a group gathered at the lighthouse in Mukilteo, wearing orange to spread awareness about gun violence.
Erin Senge is with the Mukilteo-Lynnwood chapter of Mom's Demand Action, and she helped organize the Friday evening event.
"The circles are just getting closer and closer. We all know somebody or will know somebody who has been affected by gun violence," Senge said.
There will be a Wear Orange rally and I-90 bridge walk to end gun violence on Sunday. The event kicks off at 10 a.m. at Sam Smith Park in Seattle.