SUPPORT THE FLORIDA STUDENTS

In the more than 16 years since the murder of the mother of my oldest grandchild at the Appalachian School of Law, I have received words of support from people of all political leaning.

That support had given me hope that there is one issue upon which our deeply divided country can unite—the safety of our children, teachers, moviegoers, worshipers in church, and people everywhere. I came to believe the vast majority of Americans were appalled by this senseless slaughter.

However, reaction from some quarters to the mass killing of 17 students and teachers on Valentine’s Day appears to prove me tragically wrong. Some are calling the student survivors paid actors. The Florida legislature voted down a bill to discuss gun violence less than a week after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

When politicians belittle teachers for being overpaid and on a gravy train they ignore the heroism of those teachers who step between the killers and the students, sacrificing their lives to save children. When those hero-teachers die, their families do not get the death benefits our soldiers’ families get--$100,000. Teachers take bullets to save students; they work in combat zones—they deserve combat pay.

All of us need to stand with the students in Florida. We need to put a badge of shame on elected officials who accept money from the NRA and gun manufacturers.

The self-proclaimed greatest nation in the world failed to curb the violence after Columbine, after the Appalachian School of Law, after Virginia Tech, after Sandy Hook, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, and on and on. Perhaps now, the children of Florida will show us the way out of this nightmare of violence.