Why I Didn't Attend The March For Our Lives

Yesterday, the March For Our Lives demonstrations were held throughout the United States and all over the world. An estimated 50,000 people marched here in Boston. This was larger than the estimated 40,000 people who attended the counter-demonstration to the so-called "free speech rally" on Boston Common last August which occurred in the wake of Charlottesville. However, yesterday's numbers and last August's numbers paled in comparison to the estimated 175,000 who participated in the Women's March the day after President Trump was inaugurated in January 2017.

I was one of the 175,000 who protested President Trump. However, I saw fit to skip the free speech counter-protest. Nor did I attend yesterday's March For Our Lives.

I did not attend because I don't think anything good will come of it. Their three key demands is the implementation of an assault weapons ban, a ban on the sale of high capacity magazines and closing the so-called gun show loophole. Well, of course, we had an assault weapons ban in this country and it did not prevent the Columbine massacre. Banning high capacity magazines would be no more effective than banning assault weapons. It would amount to a war on guns and create a lucrative black market. The so-called gun show loophole operates on the assumption that a person who purchases a gun is intending to cause trouble. Most guns used in crimes in this country are either stolen or purchased by a straw buyer.

I don't question the sincerity of those who marched, especially those who have lost family and friends to gun violence. Needless to say, I certainly don't begrudge Paul McCartney marching for John Lennon a few blocks from where he was shot and killed in New York City.

Despite the impressive turnout, nothing will come of it anytime soon. A Republican Congress and a Republican President aren't going to act. On 60 Minutes last week, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Cameron Kasky said, "Politicians have asked us to endorse them. Nope. You can support us all you want, but if you think you can get your hands on our movement? It's just not gonna happen." I fully expect to see Kasky and his classmates speaking at rallies for Democratic candidates this fall.

Of course, even if the Democrats control both Houses of Congress there's still President Trump. So we'll see Kasky and his classmates at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Should Trump be defeated in 2020 there will be much for joy from gun control advocates (and numerous others).

Then again for all of President Obama's support for gun control when Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress they did not see fit to strengthen gun control laws. Because if they had strengthened gun control laws in 2009 or 2010 it would not have stopped what happened in Parkland, Florida on Valentine's Day of this year. It's a broken hearted thought, but it is reality.

For these reasons, my attendance at the March For Our Lives would have been made in bad faith.