Students not manipulated

Ron Bischof lost the credibility of his arguments on how to implement school safety when he attacked the students of Parkland, Florida as being “orchestrated by media producers and other organizations with political objectives.”

He questions that the student survivors of this mass shooting, distraught and traumatized, would be able to initiate the necessary media contacts and build out an organizational structure to orchestrate a national protest.

Well, the fact is that these students came out within a day, not a week, to cry out for solutions to school violence. The fact that their protests were covered by national media is natural, not manipulated.

It was a huge national story, but what made it compelling was the energy and courage that they conveyed with their message.

And, their political message is clear: if you take campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association, or the gun lobby, you must be voted out of office, no matter what your political affiliation is.

Apparently, Mr. Bischof has been watching just a little bit too much Fox News. This is propaganda that only that news network has promulgated.

As for his argument that firearms should not be a primary focus, he points out that other subsequent attacks used a backpack explosive, a knife attack and a school shooter who was stopped by a School Safety Officer.

What he fails to mention was that none of these attacks were with an assault weapon, which is an efficient instrument of death and is a primary target of the student protests.

And, if the School Safety Officer had been met by the firepower of an AR-15, it would likely had a different outcome. Thomas Oatway

Valencia