DAVID HOGG, Parkland survivor tells 2nd Amendment supporters...

[summer_in_TX]

62. "I wonder why these kids are heard when BLM has been saying essentially the same thing"

I'm troubled that BLM didn’t get lots of support. However, other school shootings, the Sutherland Springs one and the Las Vegas shootings didn't trigger this effect either.

I think there are factors that made this take off in a way that BLM couldn't. The sheer number of kids who experienced the attack at once, because of the fire alarm getting them out of their classrooms and then it being a semi-automatic weapon.This group of students being minors but at the young adult stage of life in their ability to speak and organize. The clear case for them being innocent. The video and texts during the attack were one critical factor, because seeing it made it viscerally connect as we could imagine it being our kids, teachers, friends, us.

Somehow they knew that if they could just channel their fear and righteous anger to bring something good out of all the horror and tragedy, that it would help them and all the others dealing with shock, grief, and PTSD or other symptoms of trauma.

The kids’ response has been exceptional. Stoneman Douglas clearly has a large number of kids who have speech and especially debate experience, have had to frame issues for maximum acceptance. They've done a lot to keep the message focused on saving other kids' lives, which evokes a protective response in everyone who has been a mom, dad, or grandparent. They've mostly refrained from attacking those in a position of power like Trump.

It's a delight to watch the entrenched evil power of the NRA start to cave in the face of such a clear emotionally and morally righteous argument. It has caught the hearts and imagination of most of the country, galvanizing a fresh look at a previously intractable situation.