On the heels of last week’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, the Parkland, Florida students have unwittingly been thrust into the national spotlight in the gun debate that is now surging throughout the country.
In a rare move, Michelle Obama took to Twitter on behalf of herself and former President Barack Obama to issue words of encouragement to those students.
I’m in total awe of the extraordinary students in Florida. Like every movement for progress in our history, gun reform will take unyielding courage and endurance. But @barackobama and I believe in you, we’re proud of you, and we’re behind you every step of the way.
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) February 22, 2018
In fact, a Republican Congress blocked Obama’s calls for tougher gun reforms in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut.
Meanwhile, the GOP has continued to press for even more guns, and even advocates for arming our nation’s teachers – who are educators, not soldiers. We don’t need more assault rifles; we need commonsense reforms and restrictions on these weapons of war.
Trump and his party refuse to get to the root of the problem– the ease with which one can purchase a military-grade weapon. Instead, they are pretending that more guns is the solution, as the NRA’s stranglehold on the GOP intensifies.
While Republicans continue their obstinate refusal to act on gun safety in this country, Americans have signaled their utter exasperation with the issue. The Obamas join the Parkland students as they fight for an exasperated nation that is one hundred percent behind them.
Follow Brian Tyler Cohen on Facebook and Twitter.