I was already impressed with Parkland, Florida, students and their poised, passionate and articulate response after the trauma they went through this past Valentine’s Day. But the March 24 march in Washington, D.C., blew my mind.
After the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, many of the surviving students sprang into action and the momentum has since spread across the nation as well as the world. The students in big cities and area towns took part as well, marching, sending post cards to elected officials and registering themselves and fellow students to vote.
They are not trying to take people’s guns away. They want what has been called for and what is considered by most Americans as common-sense gun laws: raising the minimum age to buy a gun, waiting periods, background checks, and stopping the sale of weapons of war — semiautomatic weapons.
They have listened to adults argue for these common-sense reforms while dozens and dozens of school shootings occur — and frankly other public mass shootings, as well, like those in churches, theaters, concerts and dance halls — all their lives and nothing has changed. These students are tomorrow’s leaders. That reassures me. Peace.
Colleen DuroShea
Belchertown