Courage under fire

I am more than impressed with the way that the surviving students of last week's tragic shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida have channelled their grief, sadness, anger and bewilderment into a burgeoning national movement that appears to be gaining traction.

So far these students, along with supportive parents and teachers, have traveled to the Florida state capitol in Tallahassee to confer with and in some cases confront lawmakers (who for reasons passing understanding debated and voted on a measure identifying pornography as a teen health risk, but would not take up a measure on gun control on the same day); organized numerous rallies and marches; inspired a national movement, #neveragain, that will result in a march in Washington and elsewhere next month; prompted a televised town hall in Sunrise, Florida last night; and instigated a "listening session" with President Trump at the White House yesterday.

All is not positive with this effort, though, and that's not entirely unexpected, as opposition has surfaced in a number of places.  I'm aware of multiple claims that many of the students who have been so vocal and visible are one of the following:

a)  "crisis actors" who are being paid to work from talking points scripted by far-left influences
b)  part of a "false flag" scenario in which the shooting itself was a hoax designed to gain sympathy for gun control advocates
c)  attention seekers who will eventually lose interest in this cause

That entire line of thinking is repugnant, and as a father and grandfather, I can't imagine how the parents of these brave kids who are in such pain must feel, watching their children process these events, the loss of their friends and classmates and the resistance they're already meeting from those in elected office.

These students are not about to accept "thoughts and prayers," the standard talking point following most such events, and are pressing elected officials on what they'll do.  Florida Senator Marco Rubio was confronted about whether or not he would ever accept another campaign dollar from the National Rifle Association and answered the student questioning him with a meaningless and vague response.  President Trump's primary recommendation was the elimination of gun-free zones in schools so that at least some teachers and other staff (and he has clarified that he means those with the skill and training to properly handle firearms) could carry weapons inside of our schools.

I honestly thought after the Sandy Hook shooting that, finally, something would happen, and it didn't. The same went for the shootings at the Congressional softball practice last summer, as I had mistakenly assumed that attacks on their own members would cause members of Congress to finally take action.  They didn't.

Maybe this will be the turning point.  I really don't know.   But I do know how much I admire these kids, for their bravery not only when the shooter was roaming the halls of their school, but now, facing down politicians and online trolls and conspiracy theorists and, as one female student kept proclaiming at a rally last weekend, "calling B.S." on the reasons why nothing good can come of this.