Defending the Students and Discussing Bump Stocks

President Trump holding a listening session at the White House to discuss gun control on Wednesday.

Before I get into the main subject of this blog tonight, I wanted to air my grievances surrounding one particular story that has been floating around the internet. There is a claim being pedaled by Info Wars (the notorious far right conspiracy outlet) and other organizations that the students speaking up about gun reform are �crisis actors� and are being coached to spew liberal propaganda.

  As I listened to Alex Jones (the head of Info Wars) make this claim and attack the character of these students, I disregarded it as ridiculous rhetoric and continued on with my day. Then I saw it on CNN a few hours later. I started looking into the comment sections filled with people agreeing and promoting the theory, further legitimizing Alex Jones and rebuking the students who survived a school shooting. As I did this, a rage grew inside of me.

            I do not know what to say. I am insulted by the vulgarity of these attacks. Rather than ACTUALLY address the issue of gun reform (which these students are fighting for) these people have decided to point and sneer, mindlessly yelling, �fake news!� than actually listen to what these survivors have to say. They cannot find a fault in the contents of what these kids are arguing, so they have resorted to attacking their character and spreading rumors about them. Isn�t it ironic that the adults are the ones in this situation acting completely childish while the children are taking a stand and stepping up?

         These people got an idea in their head that these kids were actors and immediately dismissed anything that they had to say. They were looking for an excuse to ignore the calls for action by the students. They never once listened to their arguments. They quietly nodded their heads expecting them to go away after a few days and when they didn�t they got tired of acting like they cared about anything these teenagers were saying or what they had experienced.

Secondly, it is an insult to my generation as a whole to disregard these kids as actors. If adults were speaking up like this, nobody would question the validity of their conviction. But since our society looks down on younger generations as lazy and ignorant, we are taken aback and skeptical when they speak out in such an educated manner. Whoever heard of young people actually being politically literate and knowledgeable? According to the media, all we narcissistic whiners do is eat Tide Pods and cry. In reality we are the most educated generation ever and we will be leading the world in the next few decades. Do not tell me that these kids are actors because it is simply not true. It reveals a lack of education when you attack somebody�s character rather than refute their argument.

            Tonight�s main story is somewhat related to the subject of my ranting. President Trump recently ordered the Justice Department to ban bump stocks, an accessory that converts semi-automatic rifles to fully automatic weapons. He also tweeted that, �We must now focus on strengthening Background Checks!�

            This action might be a distraction intended to satisfy the many voices lobbying for gun reform, but it is still a big deal. This hint of bipartisanship and the President�s openness when handling this issue is a big deal. He has cracked open a door once locked and allowed proponents of gun reform to stick their foot in. They now have the ability to keep pushing on the door and eventually swing it wide open.

            Will President Trump�s order actually become law? Without the help of Congress, probably not. The ATF can strike it down and even if the agency allows the order to pass, it will end up in the courts and will be decided by a judge. There are a lot of factors and variables involved in that process. It is not a simple procedure that can be completed by signing a paper. The President�s level of dedication in getting this ban through the ATF and the courts will be an indicator of how genuine his efforts are. If this is all that we hear about banning bump stocks and the tweets pertaining to the subject stop, then it can be concluded that President Trump was not serious about enacting gun reform.

            The reaction from both sides was as expected. Republicans did not seem very happy about the President�s tweets and his order and the inhabitants of Fox News�s comment sections also expressed their displeasure. Under a post that contained a quote of President Trump talking about his proposal to ban bump stocks, one commenter territorially stated, �Don�t mess with our guns.�

            On the progressive side, there was hope� and skepticism. Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, who drafted legislation that would ban bump stocks following the Las Vegas massacre, seemed pleased about the President�s attitude in an interview with CNN but warned that, �Words are one thing, Mr. President, but we need meaningful action.�

            Is this the beginning of a change on the national level in regards to gun reform? Like I often say on the blog, we shall see. However, Press Secretary Sanders told reporters on Tuesday that the administration had not �closed the door� on supporting an assault weapons ban. That gives me some hope for the future. That�s all for this week.