Our Country will be in Good Hands with the New Generation

It was a weekend with high school students, which began by attending a production of Fiddler on the Roof at Plainedge High School on Long Island, New York. The play features the family patriarch, Tevye, in pre-revolution Russia about 110 years ago. Tevye's world is turned upside down with the arrival of Perchik, a young Bolshevik scholar with whom one of his daughters falls in love. Perchik declares that "change is coming"but Tevye resists. Fast forward twelve hours to Huntinton, New York, ten miles north of Plainedge. More high school students are speaking out about change, not in Russia but in America.

It was an absolute privilege to attend an energized rally sponsored by March for Our Lives Long Island, one of some 800 rallies held across the country today with one purpose in mind: to call attention to the epidemic of killings via guns in America. While earlier in the week Congress passed and the President signed a budget with a massive increase in military spending, the same budget took only minor steps to address gun violence within the country. The rally can best be described simply by sharing quotes received from the teenage sponsors of the rally and adult guests whom they invited to speak. The quotes below are listed chronologically as they were heard to share a flavor of the event.

Student #1: "This is not the end; it is the beginning. We will take the issue of the need for gun control to Town Hall meetings."

Student #2: "We have a new game called 'taking back our lives' ... If we do not have change now, all the youth, who have died, will have died in vain."

Student #3: "The only way to make America great again is to make it safe again." He then led the crowd in a repetitive chant:

"What do we want?" Crowd: "Gun control"

"When do we want it?" Crowd: "Now".

"We will be doing it at the polls come November we will be storming them."

Uncle of child (Jamie Guttenberg) killed at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida: "I had to go down to say goodbye. I will never see her dance again. Thank you for inviting me to speak".

"I am a one issue voter: gun control is my issue. Assault weapons and high capacity clips have to become illegal". He concluded: "No one should be in the pockets of the NRA."

Student #4 "There can be no more silence ... We can make a difference and we are stubborn as hell".

Sister of teacher (Scott Beigel) who made himself a barrier, protecting students from the gunfire.

Addressing the students who organized the event, "Because of you, my brother Scotty did not die in vain ... This is not about left or right, Democrat or Republican, it is about what is right and humane. We need to change the gun laws or get them (legislators) out (who refuse to change them)."

Crowd responds: "Vote them out. Vote them out."

Sister: "This train is leaving the station; get on board or be left behind. Politicians: we are not going away."

Shortly afterwards the following statistic was shared: 48 percent of privately held guns around the world are owned by Americans yet Americans make up only five percent of the world's population.

Student #5: "Those who died live in all of us. If the politicians won't hear us out then vote them out. If you are not registered to vote, do not leave today without registering."

Crowd: "Vote them out. Vote them out."

Head of local NAACP: Some good news in recent budget includes lifting the law that disallowed the Center for Disease Control from evaluating Gun Violence as an issue to be addressed. He also listed many concerns including being opposed to teachers carrying guns. Whenever more weapons are brought into the schools, then gun violence increases not decreases.

Student #6: "I see a voice that will storm the polls in November. We young people must register and vote ... Be the change you want to see in the world. This is that change." "Our work is not done. It is just beginning".

With over a thousand in attendance there was full attention and respect given to every speaker. It was an amazing afternoon. This effort was better organized and effectively presented than the anti-war rallies I attended several years ago over the issue of the war in Vietnam. I recall being in Washington, DC the Saturday after the Kent State killings in May 1970. I went with six friends but only one friend joined me in paying attention to the speakers. The other five were there for a "togetherness gathering" and, on the way home, a couple asked me what was being talked about at the rally. This was not my observation at this rally in Huntington. The crowd was about 60 percent adults and forty percent young people. Everyone paid attention and applause was spontaneous, appropriate and enthusiastic.

It is noted that the students appropriately planned by creating voter registration booths around the grounds. Another thoughtful planned part of the rally. Since the organizers and presenters were mostly high school students, I conclude that our country will be in good hands with the new generation. I also trust that their determination and energy will successfully accomplish what many have sought: thought out and protective gun control legislation. To all, teenagers and adults ... get involved.

We recommend contacting the Senate Majority

Leader, Mitch McConnell at Professional Arts Building, 2320 Broadway,Suite 100, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. Share your thoughts and assert that American people want an open discussion about gun control reform be held in their chambers so that voters can determine where their representatives stand on this matter.
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