I’ve written a number of posts about mass shootings in the past then stopped because I was saying essentially the same old things. This time things are different. Teenage children were the victims of the last mass school killings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. But these kids did not just become more victims of senseless killings. Instead, they became leading advocates against guns violence.

Children have a powerful effect upon adults because when they speak against injustices to parents, government legislators, and local officials we are amazed at how mature they are. We always underestimate the intelligence of our youth. We treat them like kids so they act like kids to us. But when some get in front of the press and many demonstrate en masse as they are doing and shout enough is enough of this gun violence, adults start to pay attention because they put we adults to shame for failing them repeatedly after each mass shooting.

I am so proud of our young children soon to be young adults. As a matter of fact, many are now of voting age and are registering to influence our legislators. They plan to make a difference in upcoming elections. Maybe they will put we adults to shame so we will vote to significantly change gun laws to make semiautomatic assault weapons and high capacity magazines illegal, raise the age of buying guns, and have universal tighter background checks to close existing gun show loopholes.

We are the only nation to make gun ownership a constitutional right. There is good reason no other nation makes it a constitutional right to bear arms. It is a dangerous right resulting in more gun killings here than in any other developed nation. There are too many people who are not responsible. It seems our children are acting more responsible than many of we adults.

A Constitutional right makes it far more difficult to write laws to restrict that right. That is one of the reasons gun legislation is so difficult to enact and so passionately defended by gun advocates and the National Rifle Association (NRA). They refuse to give up one inch of that right even if it might save their own children’s lives. But things are changing. And our children, the future of this nation, are starting to make a difference. Maybe they can shame legislators into passing legislation making it more difficult for people intent on killing from so easily getting hold of guns.  Perhaps we should be lower the voting age since they seem to make more sense than many adult legislators.

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