Stopping gun violence is this generation’s moment
Thank you to all of Kansas City’s youth — no matter if you are currently bold, curious or agnostic about gathering Saturday afternoon in Theis Park to protest gun violence.
#MarchforourlivesKC is your generation’s social justice movement.
It is you, the high school seniors, the juniors, the sophomores, the freshmen and those currently in middle and elementary school who are growing up with active shooter drills. Our generation had fire drills.
But you have studied as schools were fortified, with new, increasingly restrictive protocols put in place as school shooting after school shooting occurred.
Whatever changes you can inspire will need to roll upward toward Congress, which has been reticent at best to substantially reform gun laws.
Frankly, many adults (politicians among them) believed that the slaughter of 20 first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 would be the proverbial tipping point for our lawmakers. Many naively thought that the nation would be so mortified by the carnage that it would set about finding ways to ensure that nothing like that could ever happen again.
“Not on our watch,” many good-hearted people vowed.
But then we didn’t accomplish much. You have the chance and the will not to make the same mistake.
Congress still haggles over funding significant research to learn more about how gun violence affects differing demographics, regions and income levels in suicides, in accidents and in crime. Even beginning the intellectual digging necessary to find constitutionally-sound avenues for change is out of the question.
But the student-led activism after the murders of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School continues to gather momentum.
It’s not just that the Parkland students have been such powerful, unbending advocates. It’s that they are matched by thousands of other similarly gifted students throughout the nation, including in Kansas City.
Arm yourselves — not with just emotion, but with the verbal and written skills, the temperaments and the finesse to manage this work for years to come. Social change does not happen with one march.
More important than the signs you might carry Saturday will be the emotional stamina to listen objectively. You’ll need the insight necessary to reflect on how someone’s experiences or the information they’ve gathered — even when factually incorrect — frames their views.
You will need to hone the ability to flag deflective arguments as they are presented to you. Conversations about firearms are rife with such maneuvers.
Study the myths about gun-free zones, or about how many people die of swimming pool drownings or other accidental deaths, compared to those who are killed by firearms. Look at data about the effectiveness of background checks, the pipelines of stolen guns, and the conflicting interests involved with deciding who is dangerously mentally ill and should therefore be denied a firearm.
The energy around this movement could bring a crowd of 5,000, 6,000 or possibly thousands more to Theis Park. There will be power in that image, a sense of accomplishment from the sheer numbers. Capitalize on it.
Don’t stop there. Know that adults are your allies. We’re here to stand with and beside you.
This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Stopping gun violence is this generation’s moment."