Montini: School shooting survivors mocked by gun radicals won’t forget

EJ Montini
The Republic | azcentral.com
A rally against gun violence in Florida culminates at the steps of the Old Capitol in Tallahassee as Stoneman Douglas survivors lead the way on Wednesday, Feb. 21.

A gunman tried to kill them in their school, and they managed to survive, only to have others claim they aren’t traumatized students at all but ... actors.

They’ll remember that.

The survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., along with high school students throughout the country, are asking – demanding – that something useful be done to curb the gun insanity that has left so many young people dead.

They say they won’t forget what grown-ups have done – and not done.

Snubbed by lawmakers

They visited lawmakers, who largely snubbed them. They were attacked by right-wing pundits and conspiracy nuts.

Stoneman Douglas High School senior Delany Tarr told the politicians, “We are coming after every single one of you and demanding that you take action, demanding that you make a change.”

They don’t believe her.

They listened instead to their overlords at the National Rifle Association, to people like NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, who told a group of reporters, “Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it. Now I'm not saying that you love the tragedy. But I am saying that you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold…”

She’s talking about the parents of the dead teenagers at Stoneman Douglas. About the friends of the young survivors of the mass shooting who came together to speak out on behalf of their dead schoolmates – their friends, their teachers.

They survived a mass shooting only to be attacked by conspiracy-spreading gun nuts who call them “crisis actors,” pretenders, non-students.

Is there anything more cruel?

Actually…yes.

Some of these same people once suggested the massacre of first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was staged. That there were no murdered children, only actors playing parts.

Spreading lies as a strategy

It’s grotesque and heartless, but some gun-rights radicals believe spreading lies and conspiracy theories is a legitimate strategy.

The students haven’t backed down.

David Hoggs, a Stoneman Douglas student who was the subject of a lying video that called him a “crisis actor” told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “I'm someone who had to witness this and live through this, and I continue to be having to do that. I'm not acting on anybody's behalf.”

Meantime President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr., actively spread the ugly conspiracy theories about Hogg by liking two tweets on social media.

(Like father like son?)

People who should know better

Other grown-ups who should know better – who DO know better – tried to denigrate and insult the students.

Like the former congressman and CNN contributor Jack Kingston, who tweeted:

Or the even sleazier right-wing pundit (and admitted felon) Dinesh D’Souza who tweeted of the students seeing lawmakers reject their demands for action:

Meantime, the National Rifle Association and its surrogates continued their offensive. The NRA’s boss Wayne LaPierre told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “Never forget these words: To stop a bad guy with a gun it takes a good guy with a gun.”

It’s an old – wrong – cliché.

More guns? We already have the most

The solution isn’t more guns, but keeping guns away from bad guys.

Citizens in the United States already have more guns than any civilized country – roughly 112 weapons for every 100 Americans.

Still, President Donald Trump will push for more guns in schools.

Will politicians do what students ask and ban assault rifles? No. Will politicians do as students ask and not take millions of dollars from the NRA? No. Will politicians agree to universal background checks? No.

But there will be, and there have been, small victories. 

Do we have their backs?

One person who’s shown support for the students is former President Barack Obama. He tweeted:

Do we have their backs?

I’m not sure.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. These kids will remember how they were treated.

I hope.

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