Teen Power

   Watch for mass protest demonstrations by young people demanding that politicians finally do something about gun control in America.
   Already, government leaders are trying to change the focus of the debate, saying things like stricter laws would not have prevented the most recent massacre in Florida that took the lives of 14 high school students and three of their teachers, and that the real issue is one of mental health, not gun control.
   So why is it so easy for someone with a documented history of emotional issues -- there were multiple reports to authorities about the suspect in Florida -- to buy an assault rifle?
   The FBI has admitted that it missed its chance to intervene. And it may be true that a person cannot be arrested for something he has not done. Yet the act of talking about shooting people, and posting similar ideas on the internet, brought the suspect to the attention of authorities. But nothing happened.
   There is also talk about arming teachers, adding to security precautions at schools. Not all teachers, of course, only those who volunteer and go through extensive training. Already, many schools have trained security guards on patrol at school buildings. But they can't be everywhere all the time. Besides, what's so smart about multiple guns and a shootout in a crowded building?
   Better that fewer guns be available. And that will be the focus of demonstrations by students and others concerned about the multiple mass homicides in schools, theaters, churches and other public places in America.
   The National Rifle Association insists that the answer is more guns in the hands of more people, regardless of the proven history in many societies that more guns equals more violence and death, not fewer.
   Politicians, meanwhile, from the president on down, try to change the subject, focusing on talk about thoughts, sympathy, condolences and some effort to help those who have clear mental and emotional issues and discourage them from acquiring firearms.
   The shooter this week in Florida had clear mental and emotional issues, and authorities knew about them. But that did not stop him from acquiring and using an AR-15 military style assault rifle and multiple ammunition magazines to kill 17 people.
   But politicians and their NRA backers insist that guns are not the problem.
   They insist that "Guns don't kill people. People kill people."

   Can you say "stupid"?
   People use guns to kill people. Therefore, the answer is fewer guns. Meanwhile, we wind up with fewer people.

   Now the torch is being passed to a new generation, as President John F. Kennedy, himself the victim of gun violence, said in his inaugural address.
   Fifty years ago, his brother Robert Kennedy also died at the hands of a gun wielder. That same year, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a rifle shot.
   News media this week have been illustrating their reports on the Florida school shooting with numbers of the slain throughout America.
   How many more deaths will it take to persuade lawmakers that children's lives are more important than campaign contributions from the gun lobby?
   Teenage students have no money to send to political candidates. But soon they will reach voting age.
   And they will remember.