About a year ago, I was talking to my daughter, a high school math teacher, about gun control. It had become her number one issue, and she was disturbed by the inability of Congress to pass any effective gun-control legislation. I told her that I had given up on the gun issue and that there were more important issues that Democrats need to focus on like income inequality, healthcare, pro-choice policies, and immigration.

I’ve changed my mind. After the Parkland massacre, I think Democrats need to make gun violence the number one issue in 2018. Thanks to those brave students in Parkland who are calling out the National Rifle Association, I’m hopeful that there has been a political earthquake in the country and the NRA is now on the wrong side of the fault line.

But I’m done with false equivalencies. In a CNN interview on Sunday, Cameron Kasky, a junior at the high school where the shooting took place, said, “This isn’t about the GOP or the Democrats. This is about creating a badge of shame for any politician who is accepting money from the NRA and using us as collateral.” With all due respect to Cameron and how he and his fellow students have suffered, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ABOUT REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS! (To see how your member of Congress voted on gun bills, see resources below)

The failure of reasonable gun-control legislation is a symptom of the disease that is affecting the Republican Party. It is a party that is corrupted by big-money billionaires and ultra-right activists who pressure the politicians to put their re-election ahead of the welfare of the country. It is the disease that gave us President Donald Trump

Recent surveys have shown that a significant majority of Americans support gun-control bills.  I heard someone comment last week that surveys do not measure intensity. Anti-gun-control advocates make it their number one issue.

The rest of us can change that. And there is only one way to do it. Match their intensity. Ignore the many other issues that Democrats want to discuss. Make gun violence the issue in 2018 and 2020 and vote out all the gun-loving Republicans. Thanks to the students around the country who will be marching on March 24, I believe we can do it.

Resources:

Find out how your member of Congress Voted on gun bills
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/19/566731477/chart-how-have-your-members-of-congress-voted-on-gun-bills

Everytown for Gun Safety
https://everytown.org/
@everytown

Moms Demand Action
https://momsdemandaction.org/
@MomsDemand

Giffords
https://giffords.org/
@GiffordsCourage

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
https://www.csgv.org/
@CSGV

March for our Lives on March 24
https://www.facebook.com/events/328400457654324/
@AMarch4OurLives

National School Walkout on March 14
https://www.facebook.com/events/1767175080245694/
@WomensMarchY