Artist draws heartbreaking cartoon depicting victims from Florida school shooting

This week the news was dominated by the massacre in Florida. A mentally disturbed teenager legally purchased an AR-15, stormed inside his former high school, and killed 17 people. It was one of ten deadliest school shootings in America - a country where mass shootings occur with disturbing regularity. And after each one, Congress does nothing, claiming it's not the time to discuss gun control, or arguing that passing even the bare minimum of common-sense gun control laws would infringe on people's Second Amendment rights.

Pia drew a cartoon satirizing how America seems to prioritize the second amendment over protecting children's lives. Then she saw another story about the shooting that inspired her: When the gunman opened fire, football coach Aaron Feis jumped in front of students to shield them from danger, saving their lives. He later died in the hospital from his wounds; a true hero.

"The story about Aaron Feis came up," said Pia. "And another light bulb went off, one that gave me a huge lump in my throat (usually a good sign that I’m on the right track) so instead of going to bed, I drew that."

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In the drawing, she depicts the late coach being welcomed into heaven, to meet all the other people who lost their lives at the shooting.  "I wanted to take the standard 'all these angels are in a better place' meme and turn it around a little," said Pia. "To show these wonderful, beautiful, brave lives...who should still be here. To both prompt the viewer to ask why they aren’t here while also paying tribute to Mr. Feis’s act of love."

She tweeted the cartoon with the caption "Hero's welcome," and received a wave of heartfelt comments and emotional responses. One woman said it made her "cry hysterically for a half hour."

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Another person said she was a parent at the school, and would miss Coach Feis every morning when she dropped her daughter off.

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The cartoon even stirred emotions in people who've grown numb to the constant reports of school shootings in America.

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Compared to other civilized countries, the United States has drastically higher gun violence. For example, in Canada, there have only been 11 school shootings since 1975. "That’s my main source of anger over all this," said Pia. A country of 35 million people just north of you guys figured out the issue of access to certain guns and how it correlates to these events. Why haven’t you? No, gun control laws won’t absolutely stop these killings...but they will curb them by a significant amount, and create a better society in the process. Please, please consider trying it."

Time will tell if the politicians will take action to prevent mentally ill teenagers from legally purchasing AR-15's. But thanks to people like Aaron Feis, the death toll in Parkland, Florida wasn't any higher.