Portland has a reputation of being full of hipster liberals and the home to regular protests, some of which have turned violent, I say this with love. This past Saturday’s March For Our Lives, however, was pretty amazing. I was blown away by the number of people who attended.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
I was affected by the Parkland shooting more than other shootings that have happened. I used to teach high school band and judge music festivals in Florida and would run into the Stoneman Douglas students fairly often; they were always great kids. I knew people who have worked at the school and when I heard about the shooting I immediately went to Facebook to see if I still knew people there. I didn’t but I was still rattled. I saw a lot of my former colleagues in the music community posting about the massacre and I couldn’t stop thinking about it…then I saw the reaction of the students.
I am at a loss of words for how amazing these students are and how they have responded to this tragedy. They could have grieved and tried to get back to some semblance of “normal” but they took their grief and channeled it into something truly remarkable. I am more hopeful that change can happen then I have ever been. These student activists are focused, driven, articulate, and unafraid. Regardless of your stance on the issue of guns in america, you have to recognize how great these students are.
Marching
I showed up at the North Park Blocks around 10 am to a sea of people of all ages. After a few words from the organizers, we started our march to Pioneer Square. I was probably about a block back from the front so it was hard for me to get a perspective of the size of the crowd. I could tell it was large but I really had no idea. On the way to Pioneer Square there were people all along the route with signs chanting. People brought their children and they had signs.
Having never attended a protest in Portland, I didn’t know what to expect but everyone was calm (though angry about the issue at hand). Volunteers were registering people to vote and getting signatures for petitions; there were even volunteers monitoring the crowd for safety issues. There was a marching band and really what good is a march without a marching band.
“A well regulated militia…”
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
I am by no means a constitutional expert, but I do have some opinions on the matter. I’m sure many people will disagree with these opinions but that’s the great thing about the first amendment, we have the freedom to express our opinions. First lets dispense with some bull and I know people are NOT going to like this.
Deep breath… No one needs an assault rifle! Seriously, you don’t need one. Yes yes I know, you “need” it for self-defence and to defend your home. No you don’t, if you want to defend your home get a shotgun, it would be much more effective. The truth of the matter is people just like guns and really that’s ok. I have never shot an AR-15 but I can imagine it it’s pretty exhilarating; I have shot a shotgun and that is pretty cool. The challenge with the rights we define is the balance between maintaining our personal rights with the rights of others. The first amendment guarantees free speech but you can’t yell “fire” in a crowed theater.
I also know there is the argument that citizens should be armed to be able to overthrow a tyrannical government. This has to come from people who have seen one to many Steven Segal movies. If you think that the citizenry armed with assault rifles can overthrow the federal government you are out of your damn mind; the US armed forces have tanks and drones among other things. Let’s just all agree that the reason to own an AR-15 is because it can be fun to shoot.
The point I am getting to is barring any effective argument for the personal use of an assault rifle, the rights of others to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness outweigh your right to own an AR-15. You may have had the desire to yell “bomb” at an airport but the damage that would cause overrules your freedom of speech in this instance.
To be clear, I am not an anti-gun person. If you want to own a gun great, I just think there are some reasonable restrictions that should be in place the same way we have reasonable restrictions on free speech.
A Very Large Crowd
Once I got to Pioneer Square I waited for a while and the flow of people wasn’t stopping. The square was packed, people just kept coming, and I started to wonder just how many more people were there were. I was there with a couple of friends and we started to walk back the way we had marched and I didn’t see an end to the crowd.
It really was amazing. We finally saw the end of the crowd all the way back at the North Park Blocks where it started. I was also following the coverage on Twitter and the same thing was happening all across the country and around the world, all led by students. I actually feel that change is coming and am hopeful for this next generation.
I don’t know what all the answers are but I do know that these students are putting forth ideas and we should listen. They have witnessed first hand tragedy; it shouldn’t matter how old they are. The truth is, they will be voting and if you don’t like what they are saying, you really aren’t going to like how they vote.
Links
Here are some interesting links on this subject
