Don’t adjust your television set if you thought you saw Governor Cuomo lying down on the ground yesterday with students who were joining a national walkout over gun violence.
 
From the governor and Mayor de Blasio in New York to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in Washington D.C., Democratic politicians yesterday were following the lead of hundreds of thousands of high-schoolers who left class to protest lawmakers’ inaction over gun control.
 
With a Republican-led Congress that’s terrified of the NRA, it’s far too soon to say that these protests will get anything done. But the teenagers hopefully know they’re doing something right because swarms of politicians are now piggybacking on their hard work.
 
In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, it seemed like the massacre of little children would finally get Congress to reconsider the wisdom of allowing average Americans to have access to weapons designed for an army.
 
But despite the many tears, nothing happened and it felt like the NRA was here to stay. But as cute as they are, little elementary school students can’t lead protests in a way that high-schoolers can.
 
With even the president ruminating about changing gun laws, the question could land in the lap of House Speaker Paul Ryan – who may be facing a spirited challenge for his seat in his home district in Wisconsin.
 
Momentum is building in this actually grassroots movement with a major protest planned for Washington D.C. on March 24. Stay tuned.

Bob Hardt