The huge, student-inspired and student-led public rallies for stronger gun-control laws were heartening. In fact, they were wonderful! Click the link for one inspiring speech by a Parkland, Florida high school student, who was a survivor of the gun-killings there.
But rallies don't change reality. Voting does!
It was good to read in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, March 26, 2018, that "students say the March for Our Lives, led by the survivors of last month's school shooting that killed 17 people in Parkland, Fla., is a starting point to build momentum ahead of the midterm elections."
Genuine democracy is achieved not by "demonstrations" of what the people want. It is achieved by voting into office people who will actually do what the people want. The Wall Street Journal article indicates that those who helped put the marches together are quite clear about what happens next:
Organizers of the movement, dubbed #NeverAgain on social media, plan to travel the country this summer to register young voters. Their policy goals include passing universal background checks, an assault weapons ban and a prohibition on sales of high-capacity magazines.
“The pressure is on for every person in power, and it will stay that way because they know what is coming,” said Delaney Tarr, a Parkland shooting survivor, in a speech Saturday. “If they continue to ignore us, to only pretend to listen, then we will take action where it counts.”
Experts say the movement’s success depends partly on whether the students can mobilize a large group of young people to become single-issue, gun-control voters.
The "experts" are right, and we can all help. It is not just "young people" who vote, and we can all insist that any person running for office in 2018 make a commitment on the gun-control program outlined by the leaders of #NeverAgain.
Image Credit
(1) - https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-the-march-student-activists-look-to-midterms-1522012947
(2) - https://www.facebook.com/celia.orgnista
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