Tens of thousands of teens across the country are standing up for common-sense gun reform. Throughout their childhood, they’ve read of mass shootings in schools, churches, outdoor concerts. They’ve grown up practicing active-shooter drills in their classrooms. Gun violence is the reality they know could invade their lives on any given day. So now, as they enter voting age, they are calling on adults to have constructive discussions to attain solutions.

But in opposition, we’re seeing many right-wing groups and local pro-gun people, who blame this problem solely on bullying at schools, bashing them and their supporters with cyber-bullying in return. Rather than debate the merits of the subject that involves both behavioral issues and high-capacity assault weapons, they turn on their opponents in personal ways. The first tactic of bullies is ugly name-calling; second is to undermine the other’s stated intentions.

Smart, insightful students and adults clearly understood this ploy and will only dig in harder in the fight for sensible gun legislation that values our lives over the opponents’ resistance to universal background checks and their selfish ownership of assault weapons with unlimited cache of ammo.

Rebecca Holland

Sandpoint