Gun reform coming, thanks to our youth

Kudos to the young men and women of Marjory Stoneman Douglas for being the driving force behind the recently passed gun control law. Your “Never Again” movement has accomplished in three weeks what lawmakers have failed to achieve for decades. While the new law falls short on banning assault weapons, the fact remains this is an important first step.

With your sense of resolve, I am confident you will continue to achieve meaningful reform. Banning assault weapons and universal background checks are a must, but it doesn’t end there. We must also improve mental health funding and facilities, as well as law enforcement communication channels.

As a longtime Parkland resident and the parent of an MSD alumnus, I am proud to live in your community, inspired by your action, grateful for your efforts, and honored to fall in line behind you.

On to Washington, D.C.! gun violence, and while the bill isn’t perfect, it’s a start and already the arrogant NRA has filed a lawsuit.

The NRA is under a misguided and uninformed impression that the Second Amendment is an absolute right. The truth is all our constitutional rights can be subject to reasonable restrictions. As the great Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote in 1919 about the First Amendment right of free speech, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic,” (Schenck vs. United States, 249 US 47). We look to the courts to recognize that protecting our students justifies some restrictions on gun ownership.