I am so enthralled with the new youth activism that has burgeoned since the horrific massacre of 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14. The students who survived immediately collected themselves and determined to fight for change so that the loss of their friends and teachers will have some meaning and will not be forgotten and assuaged by empty thoughts and prayers. I have seen the kids interviewed on TV programs and been enormously inspired by their thoughtfulness, their poise, their dignity, their presence of mind. They have been viciously attacked and ridiculed by detractors but they dismiss the slurs with humor. They are on a mission. They don’t want children to be afraid in school. They want to save lives. As one of them said today on CNN, “Our cause is not partisan. Surely we can all agree on the importance of protecting the lives of children.”
These young people are heroes. Having faced death, they value life. They have encouraged their peers across the nation to use their voice and stand for up for a better society.
Young people want a better world. We should help them. They are right. They are too young to have been corrupted. They have not grown cynical. They do not believe the status quo is inevitable. Youth is a time for idealism and high energy. This generation may be the change we have been hoping for.
They give all of us hope for the future.
Kids today.
They are terrific!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
AMEN!
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Having marched for civil rights, against Vietnam, and a host of other things since age 12, I’m delighted to see the current generation continuing this great American tradition.
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We will soon be refiling in KY State Court (again) where the state CAN be sued. Gov. Bevin slyly requested a move to federal court – a delay tactic – and we will not be deterred by this shenanigan. Thus – the fundraiser.
Randy Wieck
Teacher Retirement Legal Fund (KY)
________________________________
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I wish the national media would cover KY the way they did WV and Oklahoma. In fact more teachers in different states are showing moxie, and one day there will be a National day of action.
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I am a little disturbed by the reports of verbal attacks on teachers who didn’t keep their doors open “long enough.” The teacher who died ushering students into his room is a hero. Would he have been if the gunman had managed to kill him and enter his room and systematically executed the kids he had “saved”? So why is the teacher who followed protocol and gathered as many as they could immediately before locking the door (per protocol) a coward? Were those lives worth nothing? Should any teacher be judged by the number of kids in their room or the length of time they risked keeping their doors open? Any teacher who didn’t go running down the hall screaming was a hero, and if any succumbed to fear or hysteria I’m not sure I am in a position to judge what would send me over the edge. Are students who acted “less than heroically” being judged as well? I hope not. I will be wearing my orange armband in support of all of the MSD community in the hopes that no one will have to face such decisions again.
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In wired cyber world, everyone is a critic. I am delighted that young people are engaged and standing up for their beliefs and rights despite the omnipresent critics.
As far as what teachers did in crisis, it is much easier to dissect their moves from the comfort of one’s own home. Nobody knows for sure how they would react under such stress until they find themselves in that position.
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Exactly right.
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” I am delighted that young people are engaged and standing up for their beliefs and rights despite the omnipresent critics.”
I second and third that.
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When I was their age, I was no where near as eloquent and articulate as these Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS kids are. They field all the lame and inane questions from the celebrity “journalists” with aplomb and intelligence. Incredible.
A very discouraging side note: I watched a Youtube video from a segment of the CBS morning “news” show. A group of 6 people who had either survived a mass shooting or lost a loved one in a mass shooting were being interviewed. Most of the group owned guns and one couple (who had survived the Las Vegas massacre) owned more than 10 guns, amongst them AR15 assault rifles. Most of them were against any gun bans and claimed it was all about mental health, not the guns. At that point I had to shut it off and scream like a wounded musk ox. One woman, who had lost her son in a mass shooting, was outraged at those lame comments; she rightly said that it was about the guns and that the semi-automatic assault rifles should be banned.
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Remember that Ar15s and similar military weapons were banned by Congress from 1994-2004.
Don’t let gun-lovers pretend that their weapons of death can never, have never been limited. Untrue. False. A lie.
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One of the panelists on that show was a survivor of the Columbine massacre and he saw a friend of his being shot: He said (and I kid you not), that the assault weapons ban was in effect at that time and it had done no good! In effect, he was saying that the assault weapons ban was useless and not needed. I was shocked, disgusted and appalled at his comment. The mother who had lost a son to a massacre was also visibly shaken by his comment. No law is 100% effective all the time but that does not mean we should not have laws or bans on these weapons. And of course he is a gun owner.
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the same rebuttal over and over: since we could not stop this particular gun event, why try to stop any gun event
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These kids are not hero’s just because they were there. Last month they were jamming tide pods in their mouths. They are being used and can’t see it. Their spouting off about shootings being the number one cause of student deaths. Wrong, cell phones while driving is. Alcohol, Drugs come up next. Bully their students at the schools because they are different causing these kids to go off and kill people hasn’t been given much attention. The guns have been around for a long time and the death rates have jumped recently, it’s on you kids, maybe it’s you. You’re entitled little brats that can’t deal with the real world and people saying no to you’re every whim. Get your heads out of the not too smart phones and social media and get educated for real life in the real world.
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Alpha wolf,
That was a mean spirited comment and you should be ashamed.
In a little more than a month, these kids have organized half a million students and their families and others to March on Washington, and millions more across the nation.
Could you do that? How many more must be slaughtered at schools, movie theaters, nightclubs, and other settings until you care?
The uncontrolled access to guns of all kinds is a blot on our nation.
The kids struck a nerve.
We are all at risk whenever we enter anyplace where people assemble.
I stand with them. Not you.
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Thank you Diane!
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Amen. Thank you, Diane.
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“Assaults by firearm kill about 13k people in the US each yr, which translates to a roughly 1-in-315 lifetime chance of death from gun violence.
“That’s about 56% more likely than the lifetime risk of dying while inside a car, truck or van…”
http://www.businessinsider.com/mass-shooting-gun-statistics-2018-2
Firearm homicide is a leading cause of death per CDC.
When you include suicide, the number of gun-related deaths annually is in the 30,000’s. That should be included in the gun-control discussion: suicide generally occurs w/n days after decision & is usually successful when attempted by gun (unlike most other methods), which brings in the easy-access factor.
Research into leading causes of death help legislators (and insurers) formulate and get behind measures to address prevention. But…
According to AMA 2017 study, although “The United States has the highest rate of gun-related deaths among industrialized countries… funding and publication of gun violence research are disproportionately low relative to the mortality rate from this cause… In relation to mortality rates, gun violence research was the least-researched cause of death and the second-least-funded cause of death after falls.”
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I think that Alpha is saying that the Parkland survivors should have organized a national march for traffic safety.
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Note that the lifetime odds of dying in “any motor vehicle accident” are listed as 1 in 108, or almost three times more likely than assault by firearm.
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Yes, interesting, Flerp. The “56% higher than” comparison must have been including the lower risks of car occupant, & type of motor vehicle – misleading. But then again, they’re comparing vehicle accidents to “assault by firearm” i.e., homicide, & that number is much higher than I realized. Also, a more apt comparison would have included accidental gun deaths like kids playing w/gun found in house, people killed while cleaning their gun, et al.
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The problem with the car analogy is that stronger regs would prevent those deaths. Florida has a speed limit much higher than NY.C. They also don’t require helmets for bike or motorcycle riders. NY is 55 on highways. Other states are 70. Some states don’t enforce hands-free phones or even have regs.
It’s also ironic that Trump reserved Obama’s regulation on mentally ills getting guns a year before Parkland which was hailed by the NRA. People on the No Fly List can get a gun!
Thank you March for our Lives for taking this issue to a global level.
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NYS is actually 65 on hiways since ’95. I expect you are right on the $, tho. They were late to move up from 55mph (all hwys mid-’70’s, to save fuel post-oil embargo) – at the time, it was noted that the other states that had done so had increased auto fatalities. Besides, why not save fuel?!
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It’s not 65 on the Grand Central parkway, so it must be a city thing. Also the limit on city streets is 25mph.
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Right, NYC was excluded. Good lord, can you imagine 65mph on Grand Central Pkwy? 55mph seems to high to me but then
I’m a cautious driver. I am not happy driving 65mph around NYC until I hit the LIE.
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25mph is typical of most towns I drive in NJ as well. They are pretty congested. If you insist on pushing 30mph as many do, the poor folk entering from side sts at stop signs have to wait forever!
Isn’t transp talk fun when you live in metro-NY ;-). When I first moved downstate 40+ yrs ago I didn’t get it, but soon got caught up in the ins & outs of how to beat foot/ subway/ bus/ car traffic, & the conversation continues in the suburbs!
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These kids are heroes for putting up with vicious personal attacks, death threats, smears and swift boating by people like alpha wolf and Alex Jones.
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alpha wolf made no death threats but he did impugn the character of these kids and belittled their heroism for standing up to vile and vicious attacks from heartless critics.
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How sad that you react to our youth in this manner. I work with young people every day. They are smarter, more saave and far more compassionate then most Americans who are 20 years their senior!!!
What they aspire to is so much more than any generation before.
I salute them!!!!
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I ASSURE YOU – the kids who marched in my city – and spoke in my city are committed to a cause of eliminating a gun culture. Entitled? Yeh – hard working, motivated kids … on free and reduced lunch, kids able to stay in same school because M-V homeless act “entitles” them to, kids whose parents work 3 jobs and still make it to teacher conferences…
Their friends have been murdered, caught in cross fire, and even with their hands up.
Their Senator and president are OWNED by the NRA.
But you know what – entitled or not – ipods in their ears or not – when I marched and listened to them today – – know what they said..
THEY WILL VOTE
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What a disgusting comment. You obviously have not worked with many teenagers. I have–for 17 years–and these kids are special. They are articulate and knowledgeable and passionate. And they are FAR more ready for “the real world” than I was at 30 years ago at their age.
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Wow, projection, anger and resentment. A trifecta of pure idiocy!
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Nor does this individual know the difference between possessive and plural case. I bet those high school students do.
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It is wonderful to listen to these kids and see them packing Pennsy Ave today. It takes a youth movement to grab the moment and spearhead the turning of the tide. For most of us, growing older involves learning our limits as individuals. Many become too conscious of what they cannot change themselves, and do not travel in large generational groups where they are daily reminded of the potential power of the community. Kids believe in their power to make social change, & that is the spirit needed to foment it.
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I am always made more optimistic whenever there are statistical results published where today’s youth opinion is compared to the opinion of people over 60: in general, our youth have very little fear of “the other.” I like to imagine that today’s youth will be able to grow the globe into an interconnected and much more tolerant home for all.
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They haven’t lived long enough to get cynical. I was going to say paranoid, but there are plenty of kids faced with daily violence of one sort or another. My father fought in WWII. His lived experience led him to be more hawkish and less trusting. The unwillingness of the world to confront Hitler early on led to horrors we could have prevented if not for the self serving (and prejudicial) blinders we and other nations put on. How many today see communism as a real threat? Every generation gets the chance to move us toward a better world. Let’s hope this generation maintains their determination to influence (at least) gun control.
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Funny, speduktr, my father-in-law’s WWII experience made him a dove (tho it likewise heightened his mistrust [of govt]). As a 1st gen Ital-Amer, he was already skeptical of being used as cannon-fodder to support govt agenda. His job in Radio Signal Corps meant moving in just after battle to dismantle communications in case enemy recaptured area. He alluded only once or twice in the 20 yrs I knew him to the horrors he saw in those houses.
Underscoring yr pt that it’s lived experience that makes one cynical: my dad was younger, & saw only brief action on a Navy destroyer; the highlight for him was being part of escort detail at the Japanese surrender. The experience made him neither cynical nor a hawk or dove.
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Everyone responds differently. My father was in the 10th Mountain in the Italian Alps. He led a reconnaissance platoon; in other words, they scouted ahead of everyone else. My mother said it was ten years before he could go to a funeral. He told my older sister that he couldn’t forget the bodies he had to ignore and climb over. His hawkishness was for ignoring aggression beyond reason as we did in the Nazi buildup. How long would we have waited if the Japanese had not attacked? He was never pro war; he was in the service for both WWII and Korea, but he was not for “sticking our heads in the sand” either. I don’t claim to have any answers; I support the kids wholeheartedly as my father would have if he was still alive. He would have been one of those vets that see no place for assault weapons in any civilians hands.
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Your father was more analytical than either of my dads. I just read “Citizens of London: The Americans who Stood with Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour” by Lynne Olson. The 15-mo lag between the start of the Blitz and our entrance to the war is studied in detail. Your dad was right. A few of those months can be explained, but much of the blame goes directly to FDR. The West prevailed by the skin of its teeth.
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These kids are no ones pawns. Many influential people offered them support in return for a favor. Their answer was always NO! Every donation and help to organize came with No Strings Attached!
Funny how people criticize these students who within a few weeks got laws changed including lifting the ban on the CDC to research gun violence. 20 years of inaction v 6 weeks of action. Their critics are running scared! And this is just the beginning!
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60 Minutes had a great interview with these students: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/students-calling-for-change-after-the-parkland-shooting/
I also heard one of the Parkland leaders, David Hogg, being interviewed on NPR Weekend Edition this morning: https://www.npr.org/2018/03/24/596647455/parkland-student-david-hogg-on-the-gun-control-movement-driven-by-teens
Well done! Hats off to all these young adults who are getting involved. You are EXACTLY what our country needs, and not a moment too soon. Thank you.
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I stopped off at the Hilton hotel in Alexandria VA. There were a number of young people in the lobby, preparing to ride the train into the city for the march. I asked one of the kids, “how many amendments are there in the constitution”, he said he did not know. I told him “27”. I then asked him how many amendments have been considered since 1791. He said hundreds I guess. I told him 11,000. I then asked him how many amendments have been repealed. He said he did not know. I told him, “one”.
These kids are not really up to snuff on the constitution. I told him “good luck in getting the 2d amendment repealed”.
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Charles,
You are so brilliant. So supercilious. No one suggests repealing the 2nd Amendment. When Congress banned assault rifles from 1994-2004, did it repeal the 2nd Amendment?
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The previous law banning certain types of firearms, was entirely constitutional. (See Miller v. US 1939). I support the banning of weapons which clearly have no self-defense nor legitimate sporting use. I have consistently supported the ban.
There are a number of individual who are pushing for the repeal of the 2d amendment. Not all persons who support reasonable. common-sense legislation, are pushing for repeal.
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Never heard of anyone calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment. Reasonable people believe it refers to the need for “a well regulated militia,” not the right for every nutjob to buy an assault weapon online or at a gun show
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You should have been with me, this morning, when I was talking to some of the kids, who were preparing for the march, There are some (NOT ALL) who favor the repeal of the 2d amendment, and banning all private ownership of firearms.
I favor strong and thorough background checks for firearms purchases. Mentally ill people, domestic abusers, and felons should not be permitted to own deadly weapons. We are in agreement, more than you realize.
I favor a complete and total ban on firearms which clearly have no legitimate self-defense nor sporting purpose.
The Second amendment has two(2) sections. It protects two(2) rights. The right of the states to have a well-ordered militia, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms. See District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).
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Was the Congressional ban of assault weapons a violation of the 2nd Amendmet? The ban lasted for ten years, from 1994-2004. No court overturned it.
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Charles,
Be sure to watch the video in this tweet by veterans who carried assault weapons in combat.
https://twitter.com/emma4change/status/977172809901371392?s=12
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Imagine that! Every one of the teenagers that attended the rally had not formulated a well thought out legislative position on gun control and what it should or should not include. I didn’t realize that was a requirement for marching. Do you suppose that there even adults there who have not formed a final opinion about what should happen? Must we all agree in lockstep before we march for change? Did you have to look up how many amendments have been proposed or do you normally carry around a compendium of trivia about the Constitution? Not that there is anything wrong with being a constitution trivia buff. Disingenuously, assuming that there is something lacking in anyone who doesn’t is.
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Let’s face it, although he has lived everywhere, married every ethnicity, and has had every job, Chuck still can’t beat his way out of a wet paper bag. And he can’t distinguish between a false claim of 2nd amendment repeal and an historically correct interpretation of it.
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Good summary
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Having taught (or I should say, tried my best to teach) history and government for 30 years I can say that there are PLENTY of people out there who do not understand the U.S. Constitution: Oldsters, high school students, my fellow Baby Boomers and whatever this youngest cohort of citizens is being called today. No group has a monopoly on civic ignorance -though our president and his enablers seem to be working mighty hard in that direction.
When blowhards launch into their cliche, “kids today….blah, blah, blah…” , well, I stopped arguing years ago. I don’t listen to their self-serving claptrap and walk away. Kids are kids, and thank God for that!
One of the biggest differences is this that latest generation of young people has had to deal with a universe of new, high tech possibilities: smart phones, the internet, high def, mind boggling video games, just to name a few.
Hell, back in the 1970s we only had the video game “Pong.” And, my black and white TV got, maybe, 12 channels. If we’d had all these amazing distractions back in my “dazed and confused” style high school, a good number of my friends would have NEVER graduated.
Meanwhile, “kids today” have had to also deal with the asinine demands of the “Common Core” and it’s resultant standardized testing brain control. It’s a wonder they know as much as they do about our government -given the years they’ve spent coping with mind numbing test prep. (Remember the famous talking pineapple question? http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/talking-pineapple-question-state-exam-stumps-article-1.1064657 )
Bottom line: there are very powerful individuals in the United States who do not want everyday citizens to know about our government, to care about our government, to think we can change our government. To wit: the despicable efforts of mostly Republicans to disenfranchise and limit access to voting. (Of course, New York State’s antiquated voting laws prove it’s not just one political party that should get all the blame for this travesty -though, the G.O.P.’s attack on voting has been simply disgusting.)
Thank you, kids who marched, for reminding us what democracy looks like.
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Interesting replies. I support the right of all people regardless of age to march and exercise their first amendment rights. I also support most (not all) of the agenda presented yesterday.
Q there are very powerful individuals in the United States who do not want everyday citizens to know about our government, to care about our government, to think we can change our government. To wit: the despicable efforts of mostly Republicans to disenfranchise and limit access to voting. END Q
Do you have any credible evidence for this statement? Are there really people who are working to stop everyday citizens from knowing about our government?
Are there organized efforts underway to rescind voting rights from American citizens? I have been an election judge, and I have been voting since 1972. I live in Virginia, which sued the US government to stop the “motor-voter” law. See
Virginia lost the suit, and now you can register in any library or DMV office.
Interesting story: My wife and I moved to Virginia in 2002. We went into the local DMV to get new license plates and new driver’s licenses. The clerk asked if we wished to register to vote. I replied, yes for myself, but not for Larisa, she is not an American citizen. Guess what arrived in the US Mail a week later. Voter registration cards for both of us. I sent Larisa’s card back to the state by registered mail.
I assert that it is very easy to register to vote, in Virginia.
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Your personal anecdotes do not constitute proof of anything.
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I am not trying to prove anything. I am just saying, that it is very easy to register and vote in the state of Virginia. I have voted in Lynchburg, Norfolk and Alexandria. I was an election judge in 2012.
I am unaware of any organized campaign by anyone anywhere, trying to restrict the franchise. If such a movement exists, it needs to be investigated by law enforcement or the FBI.
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Charles, when you dive into the details, we find common ground, & there is plenty of it (at least on the subjects of gun control & civil protest). And your instinct to take issue with comments that sound like conspiracy theory is well-taken. (Tho I would defend those that sound that way. We are most of us pretty rational thinkers, but fighting/ enduring wrong-headed bureaucracy for 20 yrs can make one tired & cynical.) I think the reason people jump on you is that in your initial post on an issue, you tend to lead with your chin.
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REALLY???? You ask two ticky-tacky questions to one student and think that these young people shouldn’t assert their rights, because they aren’t, “up to snuff on the Constitution,” which you don’t even bother to capitalize?
You are guilty of “gotcha politics.” You are no friend of the Constitution, nor of our young people. WHY do you still come on this sight, when you obviously don’t care about students or their education.
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Diane:
Thank you. So well said and exactly what so many of us are thinking. Please send to the New York Times!!
Kathleen Collins
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Why? The NY Times wouldn’t publish it
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Diane,
I to am delighted to see the student involved in the democratic processes of our republic. But I am dismayed as well with what I see happening.
The gun control lobby now mirrors the propaganda campaign of global warming.
The gun lobby’s playbook is exploiting students. Like the climate crusaders who have wormed their views into the instruction of our students, the gun lobby is using celebrity activists to help the students marches to get their views known and whoever disagrees is portrayed as a child-hating monster. No one wants to deny a safe future for our kids. Climate crusaders are using children as litigants in lawsuits to sue the federal government for violating “the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failing to protect essential public trust resources.”
Celebrity activists are now involved in supporting the students’ marches to bully private industry and the describe the NRA as murderers. The well-funded gun control lobby is copying the same approach deployed by the climate change movement – they hide behind the façade of children to promote their policy agenda. The strategy is shamefully capitalizing off the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month, turning students into celebrities and placing their pictures – only students against further use of guns, on the front page of the NY Times.
The uprising was claimed to be purely organic, it was not: powerbrokers, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the country’s largest teachers’ union began funding and coordinating the campaign mere hours after the massacre ended. The parade of Hollywood celebrities – like Clooney who contributed $500,000, an amount that was quickly matched by Oprah, Steven Spielberg and Reese Witherspoon, Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, all went to social media with posts and tweets demanding gun control legislation. These hypocritical self righteous do – as – I- say – not- as – I – do crowd climate celebrities who fly private jets and cruise on pricy yachts powered by fossil fuels, these folks all benefit from armed bodyguards and live in gated mansions – don’t need Trump’s wall!
It is shameful that the students’ voices and emotions are used as weapons by adult activists. The climate and gun lobby see a willing and pliable audience in the students. Kids from kindergarten through college are prime targets for the climate change fear promoters’ propaganda. Politicians, academia, Hollywood, and global warming activists have focused on kids, and this strategy is now borrowed by the gun lobby promotions.
Alleged comedian Chelsea Handler summed it up with this tweet:
Climate change deniers and gun control detractors are also denounced as industry shills, bought off by special interest groups. Activists routinely post the amount of money politicians have accepted from the NRA or fossil fuel companies and attempt to intimidate lawmakers into rejecting those blood-soaked contributions. Parkland student-activist David Hogg warned: “We’re going to hold these sick politicians who prefer the murder of children to [losing] their reelection. We’re going to hold them accountable. And that’s what we’re doing.”
Both movements reflect the same check-mate move – use children. Hopefully there will be student debates and research on the issues on the return to class.
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Jscheidell,
You did a good job of summing up the talking points of the lobbyists for the NRA.
More deaths, more gun sales. They must have been squirming yesterday.
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As I recall, he cuts and pastes most of his comments from other sources. So it’s fairly likely that he is literally giving us NRA talking points.
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Flerp,
Sorry to inform you but not one is from an NRA source = Any comment made here that is contrary to the accepted viewpoints is seemingly rejected due to its sources, yet the same could be flipped for those who complain – and use the NY TIMES WAPO ETC as if they are the bible to the conversation. It is like reading a lot of comments from head bobbers on the dashboard.
Filerp – it is like having a conversation on climate warming/cooling and the sources given in the debate are from scientists but not one they are willing to accept because they are not seen as one of the 98 percent consensus – and in science there is no consensus that I am aware of at this point
MAGA!
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jscheidell,
I won’t post any more comments from you that include the term MAGA which is Trump-speak for make America stupid.
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Maybe not directly from an NRA source. But can you state the words you typed were your own, and not cut and pasted from other sources? I would be surprised, based on what I’ve found in the past when googling any semi-articulate language that’s appeared in your comments.
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jscheidell : “Activists routinely post the amount of money politicians have accepted from the NRA or fossil fuel companies and attempt to intimidate lawmakers into rejecting those blood-soaked contributions.”
The NRA has become a corrupted organization that spends millions on bribing people in Congress to ensure that no gun safety laws will ever be passed. If this were true, that guns keep us safe, what is the need for paying off senators and representatives? If it were that obvious, then none of these payment would have to be made.
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If guns keep us safe, why bar them from the Congress, the White House and meetings of the NRA?
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Diane,
The question on why the Capitol and WH areas are gun free zones stems from November 7, 1983, when a bomb tore through the walls of the Senate Republican cloakroom and also badly damaged the office of Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd.
Status quo changed and Congress finally tightened Capitol security in a significant way. Whereas visitors had been able to access the building through 10 doors, now the Capitol Police only allowed the general public to use four, each outfitted with a metal detector. In later years, x-ray machines were added. Furthermore, staff members were now required to wear official badges that would allow them access to newly restricted areas. Reporters, accustomed to enjoying free run of the building, found themselves limited in their movement.
Prior to that incident – March 1, 1954, saw business on the floor interrupted – 240 members of Congress were debating an immigration reform bill. The assailants—four Puerto Rican nationalists armed with German Lugers—created instant bedlam.
Capitol Police officers, with the aide of several spectators and one congressman, worked to subdue the attackers, but no fundamental changes to Capitol security. The same cultural traditions that made the Capitol a natural dormitory for Civil War soldiers made it unthinkable that Congress would bar citizens from freely accessing and wandering its halls.
It took a bomb to change … security changes 1983, there were no metal detectors at the entryways to the Capitol. No staff and member identification badges. No requirement that American taxpayers reserve advance tickets, queue up in a subterranean visitors’ center and be guided through a select few rooms of the complex.
The only areas truly off limits to non-credentialed individuals were the Senate and House floors, though in extraordinary times, even these rooms became public space.
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On a lark I googled some of the language in this post. As usual, lifted almost verbatim from the Internet. Here, it’s Politico.
Do you really have that little confidence in your writing?
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/gun-control-us-capitol-120310
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Flerp,
I made sure the facts were from a source used by many here. Sorry I didn’t paste and cut the source.
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When you don’t cite the source, that is plagiarism
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“I made sure the facts were from a source used by many here.”
LOL. It’s called plagiarism. If you want to use a source in a way that’s not plagiarism, then set that material off in quotation marks and state the name of the source. You can’t seriously believe it’s proper to lift entire paragraphs and try to pass them off as your own by nesting them inside a couple connecting sentences you’ve cobbled together. Use your own words. Come up with your own thoughts. Be an adult, for God’s sake.
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Diane,
Although since the bombing the public does now encounters metal detectors and armed police in those buildings. And yet we have no problem or complaint because we do feel a little safer – as with the schools situation we hear complaints and views that they will look like prisons and guns in the building with trained individuals are a no no. One should eval wether the cost factor and the “intimidation” factor fits your school.
Maybe the Dems and the Hollywood crowd would have been better off spending their dollars supplying metal detectors for schools – safety doors and locks, id badges special glass for the first floor class rooms — something other than the non-organic marches. But organizers and supporters of Saturday’s events have done little to disguise that millions of dollars and thousands of hours were directed toward the weekend’s protests.
NY TIMES noted the following – The student fervor was great – youthful grass-roots energy, and of sophisticated, experienced organizational muscle.
Many protests simultaneously benefited from groups with more financial resources and organizational skills than the teenagers had on their own. As of Sunday, a GoFundMe page affiliated with the march in Washington had raised nearly $3.5 million. Half of the crowdsourced money was expected to help pay for Saturday’s protest, with the balance going to people directly affected by the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
I am sure you noticed all the guns surrounding and prominently placed to protect the the crowds of students.
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Jscheidell,
Money spent to help students was well spent. Far less than the NRA gave Trump or Rubio,
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The man is a plagiarist. There is no point responding to him. Better to ask him the names of the writers whose work he pastes in, so you can respond to those writers.
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jscheidell, why aren’t guns allowed at Mar-a-Lago? Surely private citizens need to be ‘safe’ in Trump’s golf club.
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Senator Todd Young was paid $2,896,732 by the NRA. President Trump was paid $30 million. The NRA boasts of its courses in gun safety, but skillfully mobilizes its five million members and annual budget of more than $300 million to make sure Congress never passes any meaningful gun safety laws.
NRA President Karl Frederick in 1943 said, “I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”
Over 70% of Americans SUPPORT limiting access to dangerous assault weapons.
In the last fifty years alone, more civilians have lost their lives to firearms within the United States than have been killed in uniform in all the wars in American history. All developed nations regulate firearms more stringently than we do. Compared with the citizens of twenty-two other high-income countries, Americans are ten times more likely to be killed by guns.
Abundantly clear statistics have no effect. In Massachusetts, which has some of America’s most restrictive firearms laws, three people per 100,000 are killed by guns annually, while in Alaska, which has some of the weakest, the rate is more than seven times as high. In Louisiana, another weak-law state, the rate is more than six times as high as in Massachusetts.
Congress not only ignores such data but has shielded manufacturers and dealers from any liability for firearms deaths, and has prevented the Centers for Disease Control from doing any studies of gun violence. The top ten recipients of direct or indirect NRA campaign funds in the US Senate had received more than $42 million from the organization over the past thirty years.
The NRA asserts the idea that the more weapons in a society, the safer that society. This directly benefits the NRA, which is effectively a gun manufacturers trade association rather than a gun owner’s membership club. The NRA needs to continually promote gun proliferation, which in turn translates into real profits for the industry.
The right to bear arms cannot supersede everyone else’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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This letter-to-the-editor will be published in The Times of NW Indiana either today [27th], tomorrow [28th] or on March 29.
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Are you trying to make a case that the student movement for reasonable gun controls spearheaded by Stoneman Douglas students is underwritten/ compromised by adults [shamelessly] using kids to promote their agenda? Then do so – with evidence, please.
Celebrities who support gun control – who post on social media – or donate free performances at the rally – or contribute megabucks, say, for the soundstage at the rally – are not adults using kids, they are citizens using their fame and money to back a cause they believe in, & help make the rally a success.
But please provide evidence for the claim that political actors Bloomberg, Wasserman-Schultz & ‘the country’s largest teachers union’ ‘began funding and coordinating the campaign mere hours after the massacre ended.’ That is a provocative & deserves back-up.
And leave climate change out of the discussion. Anyone who ignores the scientific data (let alone photo evidence of melting glaciers, & data listing ave temps for the last century, & under-your-nose evidence of typically-tropical weather disturbances moved north etc) immediately loses all credibility when suggesting the problem is simply a parallel example of adults using children to promote a political agenda.
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These young people who started this march are absolutely amazing. I could never be as eloquent as them at that age.
I saw photos yesterday online of people protesting in Israel and London. This video show protests in Rome and Okinawa, Japan. How wonderful that the world is with us in the violence of guns that won’t end unless voices continue to speak out.
I was at a protest yesterday in Highland, IN. there were about 200 people and kids who showed up. I had made three signs.
Thousands March to End Gun Violence
VIDEO: Thousands March to End Gun Violence
By AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets in Washington and cities across the globe to take a stance against gun violence.
https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000005816881
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Kudos for marching, carolmalaysia! Sorry to say I was loafing at home & had not known there would be action here in my not-much-bigger NJ town, but was happy to hear from Sat-working son that we had marchers too.
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Wonderfully put. I was so proud of our youth who spoke at the March in Washington and all those who attended there and around the world. There is hope.
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Delighted to be working with & learning from some Mn students who organized a rally that drew about 20,000 people to the Mn State Capitol yesterday.
In this letter to the editor, published in today’s Star Tribune (Mn’s largest daily newspaper) Ted Kolderie urges that we increase “engagement” of young people to help reduce discipline problems.
I agree.
Over 45 years, I’ve seen dramatic declines in discipline problems when young people (including those with great challenges) have opportunities as part of their school work to create and construct a better community, state & world. No single step will solve all problems, but project based & service learning can help students be much more engaged, & learn much more.
The enormous energy, creativity and talent we’ve seen students display to improve school safety & change gun laws helps illustrate what can be accomplished when young people have opportunities to make a difference in the world.
http://www.startribune.com/readers-write-race-and-school-discipline-gun-policy/477796683/
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This is the type of news that I’d like to read about in the US media. How wonderful for the police to be looking for ONE man for 38 years who was in possession of a handgun. The added bonus is a life sentence if found guilty. [Penang is an island off the North-east coast of mainland Malaysia.]
I’ll bet Singapore doesn’t have thousands of people killed each year with handguns nor automatic rifles. See, it is POSSIBLE to have a country filled with people who aren’t madly in love with guns!! The NRA needs to look to Singapore for guidance.
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Headline: After 38 years on the run, man wanted for firearms offence nabbed in Penang…Straights Times
SINGAPORE – The law finally caught up with Seow Lam Seng, who had been on the run for 38 years after he was allegedly found to be in unlawful possession of a firearm.
The police said on Sunday (March 25) that Seow, 63, was caught in Penang last Thursday by the Royal Malaysia Police and extradited to Singapore on Saturday.
Seow’s crime dates back to Oct 3, 1980, when two police officers found him in possession of a pistol…
If convicted of the offence, he may be sentenced to life imprisonment….
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/after-38-years-on-the-run-man-wanted-for-firearms-offence-nabbed-in-penang?xtor=EREC-16-1%5BST_Newsletter_AM%5D-20180326-%5BAfter+38+years+on+the+run%2C+man+wanted+for+firearms+offence+nabbed+in+Penang%5D&xts=538291&utm_source=google_gmail&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany
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Don’t know why I said Penang is off the N-east coast. It is off the N-west coast of Malaysia. Duh. I have no sense of direction.
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Amazing!… but I want to know, carolmalaysia, how to view this in the context of law & order in Singapore. Don’t they still cane people for infractions?
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I think you’re right but I’m not up to date on their laws. I do know that it is illegal to bring in chewing gum. Don’t bring in chewing gum to Singapore!!
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Where does she get the ability to be such a great speaker? She is volumes ahead of our bigoted bought out Great Leader who can’t speak in complete sentences and can’t stay focused on any one topic because of his short attention span. He was paid $30 million by the NRA to support the killing of more people. Shame on his ignorance and vulnerability.
Fiery Speech, and Charged Silence, From a Parkland Student
VIDEO: Fiery Speech, and Charged Silence, From a Parkland Student
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Emma González, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., used her speech at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington to remember classmates who had been killed.
https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000005817208
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I love good news. May this happen to ALL the manufacturers of guns.
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Remington, Centuries-Old Gun Maker, Files for Bankruptcy as Sales Slow…NYT
One of the oldest U.S. gun manufacturers borrowed heavily after the Sandy Hook shooting, when sales surged because of concern of impending regulation. But now demand has fallen.
Remington Outdoor, one of the oldest firearm manufacturers in the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday amid mounting debt and declining sales.
The gun maker had said last month it was nearing a bankruptcy filing, which it made on Sunday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. In its Chapter 11 filing, Remington said it had between $100 million and $500 million in debt and would continue to operate while under bankruptcy protection. It estimated that its assets were between $100 million and $500 million…
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I marched in Phoenix with my daughter, who is a teacher, and my two grandsons to support our young people. Many teachers, grandparents, as well as the students came. The signs were great. I am so proud of our children and all who came to support them.
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I marched in Phoenix with my daughter, who is a teacher, and my two grandsons to support our young people. Many teachers, grandparents, as well as the students came. The signs were great. I am so proud of our children and all who came to support them.
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