Have we reached a turning point in the gun control debate?

Donations to the NRA is at record levels, gun sales continue to climb and lightning kills more students each year than guns.

Whoever organized the group in the photo should be ashamed. They are exploiting young people who don't have a firm understanding of the issues for the organizers own political purposes.

If you can get past the first unending minutes of giggles from the hosts, you hear a rather strange mix of supposed Catholic teaching along with the millennial love for social media protest because, well, *looks good* everybody else does it*bragging rights*yay, another day off from school*!! Then Mr. Blanchfield ops in with contempt for the stupidity of those who disagree with his stance (including some of the Florida students) while calling the religious views of those on the right, "bull**** theology". Jesuit training is not here I think. I see that the group he is on staff of, the Brooklyn Institute, has an upcoming talk "Marx Now". The radical left is gaining far too much input and not as a theological viewpoint but strictly as a political point. Again, they co-opt Christ for their own ego and glory. FYI: The Brooklyn Institute is not an education facility as there are no diplomas etc. It's more like ThinkProgress with various seminars. But they are adept at marketing themselves.

Students perhaps would paraphrase FDR, “The aristocracy has no vision and when there is no vision, the people perish.”

As a long-time Democrat of more than 30 years (I'm now 56) who reluctantly became a moderate pro-life/anti-abortion Republican several years ago, I admire my niece Virginia (a United Presbyterian, by the way) who along with numerous other young people participated in the March 24, 2018 "March For Our Lives" gun control rally in Washington , D C. As a retired Special Education teacher, I certainly believe that students should as a matter of course attend school. However, I support the walk out of students on April 20 to commemorate the deaths by gun violence at Columbine High School in 1999. I don't believe the students should be disciplined by school principals, as I believe their action warrants making an exception. In past years I fairly frequently peacefully protested the violence of abortion at abortion centers. Once I also took part in a "rescue" ( sit in) outside a Paoli, Pennsylvania abortion center. According to a recent Washington Post --ABC poll reported in the Post on April 21, 2018, 85% of adults polled favored police (with judicial permission) having the right to take a gun from someone deemed dangerous to other people or to him or herself. Also, 72% of adults polled favored raising the age limit to 21_years to purchase a gun. Finally, 62% of all adults support an assault weapons ban. The poll found that even many gun owners supported such proposed laws. Another recent Washington Post report noted that the majority of gun deaths in our nation are from suicide. I believe that there should be expanded mental health services for the needs of troubled individuals. Also, I believe it would be wise and compassionate for those who live with someone who expresses a desire to commit suicide to place guns in a safe, secure location. A good friend of mine committed suicide in 1999, so this is a personal matter to me. When my Dad died in 1999, I discovered in his bank safety deposit box a handgun. I immediately turned the gun into my local police department. I also think gun "buy back" programs may be worthwhile. No law, no matter the subject matter, will ever be entirely effective. However, I believe that stringent gun control laws will save some innocent human beings from gun deaths. The Washington Post (April 21, 2018) in an investigative report found that since 1999, more than 206,000 children at 211 schools have in some way experienced gun violence. This excluded students effected by shooting attacks at colleges/,universities. At this point in 2018, there have been 12_school shootings --,the highest number since 1999. Also since 1999, it was found that at least 131 students, educators and others were killed by gun violence, and 271 such school people were injured. The median age, incredibly, of school shooters is only 16! Finally, it's very unfortunate, and I think it shows negligence on the part of parents and other caregivers, that in more than 85% of school shooter cases, that the source of guns used came from the shooter'# home or from family or friends. Is this any surprise, since there are an estimated 250 million (or more) guns in the United States, and about 250 million adults in our nation. While I firmly support more stringent gun control laws, but favor the right to own a gun for legitimate self-defense, is it really necessary to have such an enormous number of guns?