Opinion: It’s the Action of Youth That Shames Lawmakers

It was partly partisan politics that drove protesters and counterprotesters in the global “March for Our Lives” on Saturday. Many who traveled to Washington or their town squares demanded action on school safety, gun control and more.

But to Washington lawmakers, of both parties and on either side of the gun issue, who just managed to pass a $1.3 trillion omnibus bill to keep the government running that same week and may not pass any other major legislation for the rest of the year, it was a rebuke.

That day had to feel bigger than a one-time event driven by the violence that has touched too many young lives. “These kids,” whether you praise or curse them, were actually doing something, and acting more grown-up than the adults.