What would Donald Trump do for $30 million? He sat in the White House surrounded by a circle of survivors of the Parkland, Florida high school shooting and other mass shootings. The president nodded his head and read from a card that read “I understand.” Then, he fired off this early morning tweet:
‘What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
During the White House event, Trump mentioned all the things that the National Rifle Association (NRA) loves to hear. He talked about mental health and arming 20 percent of all the teachers. Can you imagine a kindergarten teacher having to pack heat or an English teacher sending out Shakespeare papers and bullets? The two rarely mix.
Teachers are strong. They are talented professionals, but must the government stuff the job of armed guard onto all of their other responsibilities?
One of the young people who lived through the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting spoke emotionally to Trump. He called the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle that a 19-year-old man legally purchased a “weapon of war,” and that is exactly right.
Trump had his photo op with the survivors. Fortunately, the young people see right through his and other politicians’ empty words. They are not afraid of the NRA. Perhaps, the NRA is afraid of them, and maybe it should be.
School violence is a complex problem, but the answer is not the NRA. It’s chief hit the airwaves demeaning those who call for common-sense gun control. He called them “the elites” who “hate the Second Amendment” and “want a European style democracy.” Of course, he is dead wrong.
Young people across the country are the change makers. This time really is different. Change is already in progress.
Featured Image via Getty Images/John W. Adkisson.
