Your words, your actions, your perseverance, and your media savvy inspire and impress. You have captivated the nation and the world.

I have followed your journey since February 14. I have watched you tell not only your story – but also the stories of countless youth across this country who fear and face guns every day of their lives. You had the wisdom to reach out to them regardless of location or circumstance and forge alliances and friendships in a way too many adults have failed to do.

You have my support and my commitment to voting only for candidates who pledge an agenda like the one you have defined and to donating to those candidates so that in November, we can get the change for which you are fighting.

Bravo.

In my 67 years of living, I have never been so proud of America’s youth. We adults have failed to keep you safe in your schools, malls, theaters, churches, etc. I’m so thankful that you are taking up what we failed to do. Good luck!

Hi, My heart broke when the news this tragedy was broadcast. Forgive me, my first thought was “The Americans are killing them selves again”. I feel deeply for what many of you are going through. I am not alone with these feelings. This means you are not alone. Always remember that. The whole world is with you. It senses a new possibility.
I am going to try and help with some advice. I have studied people and politics for over twice (thrice?) the ages of your fellow students.
One; First of all main slogans;
You will get many suggestions. Collect them all and bounce them around a room. Mix them up. Say them backwards. Sing them to your favorite songs. Find something that has a rhythm. one-two/one-two, or one/one/one or?…(like repeating U… S… A)
It needs to be something a crowd can chant. Something that will sound catchy in a song.
It NEEDS to come out of your school. Not from some PR firm. It needs to come from you guys.
Two;
Main target, NRA.
You have to understand something about how the NRA works. It’s a pound of sugar if you go along and a ton of salt if you don’t.
That is what stalled Rubio when he was asked about NRA funding. He can do without their money. What happens if he gets in the NRA’s bad books he can also do without. We all know what they do. They over finance your opposition and get you kicked out of a job you love.
Nice thing about acronyms is you can play around the lettering.
N R A, personally I like;
Not Rational Americans
But again, generate it your selves.
PACs, one of the most destabilizing factors in American democracy are PACs. The rise of NRA matches the rise of PACs. They are one and the same. PACs operate in the exact same way the NRA does. Today? People lose elections over a stance on guns, not over the concerns of the voters.
The NRA/PACs are wide open on this front. The warp to American institutions these actors are causing is well know. Their effect on political systems has grown slowly more significant through the years. In the 1960s people would have been shocked to think the NRA could sway elections. They would’ve thought it impossible without some criminal act like vote rigging.
PAC interference in the fair process of elections, on an intellectual level this is the battle ground.
No PACS equals no NRA.
Cutting the NRA off-at-the-knees is the first step to addressing the PAC issue. I would advise you guys, and gals, to stick with the NRA. If you think the NRA has a lot of money behind it, PAC money dwarfs it. The owners of PACs are major funders of the NRA.
The vote is the one real power that scares the NRA.
That is for a good reason. What is that reason? Living outside of America, (Canada) it’s obvious but just in case, I will spell it out.
The NRAs position is crazy talk.
Insane solutions to an insanity. It is easy to tell an un-defendable position. The rebuttals get more and more extreme. Arming teachers is seen as lunacy outside of America. Perfectly logical to many Americans. “Look at all the guns out there!”
I would sic a bunch of young scholars on the original writings of the fathers of the American Democracy. Look for their thoughts on gun ownership/stewardship. There is a lot there for those with the eyes to see. That is the hard data arguments in court are made of. Ultimately, I have faith in American Democracy. It self corrects on a constant basis.
For myself, it is the influencing of elections that is the greatest threat.
Facebook is facing it’s come-up-pence because they committed the ultimate sin. The sin was not the bulk-data manipulation/loss/misuse. They’ve been doing that for years.
The sin was showing they had credible-ability to elect, or un-elect, almost anyone, or at least make their campaign lives a misery. (That misery may have been the greatest sin. Aways remember emotion, the ultimate and only motivator)
Elect, or un-elect, sounds NRAish. The situation is not wholly comparable but it can show how quickly things can kick.
The simple fact is, if a voting drive got 50% of all eligible young voters to simply vote, does not matter who they vote for, just vote, is all it would take.
That would cause a massive shift in the political landscape. People would be up all night brainstorming how to deal with this new factor, politicized youth acting smart and voting in mass.
The powerful only have sleepless nights over other powers. Up all night trying to figure out how to contain you… That makes you a power. Voting leads to the levers-of-power. These levers can make or break. That scares and the scared fight back.
Very important, IF a lot of money is flying around, incorporate a charity and draft accountants from the math class.
Don’t let this easiest of traps close in on you. In the sixes they used to say, “Don’t trust anyone over thirty.” You may want to bring that back.
Stay out of first class if you travel. Take no freebies if on serious business. Couch surf if you can. More fun that way anyway. Buddy/friend offers a pop… take it, and a few fries.
I suggest parody videos… Twisted Sisters, We’re not going to make it. But instead of attacking a teacher they go out and vote the bad out. Stuff like that.
Do a mike drop with pizzazz. Have 500 people holding a stick in both hands over their head, not to thick and easily broken. Scream NRA! and drop the mike. While the mike is falling everyone breaks their stick. Thud! … well, maybe you better not do that. It is a little aggressive.
Contact all schools in America.
Set up a web site with the precise steps needed to register in every district in America. Every school has a computer tech class these days. Get them working. Volunteers will keep cost to a minimum.
Links and forms provided. Acquiring official documents assistance. It is usually a matter of sitting down in front of a computer for a half hour. Voting takes at best an hour or two. An hour and a half total in two years. Say, “That’s one twenty-five thousandth of your time in the next two years. Can you spare it?” Do this and you can stick it to the man. Together they will hear us roar… That kind of stuff.
Last time students rose up they did so because their lives were under threat. The draft, Vietnam war took 50.000+ lives in a dozen years. There are parallels to today’s situation. I would check out their protest songs and see if they can be adapted to this American gun thing.

Protect your minds. Fight the bad times. Do it any way you can. The fact you are trying helps more then I can say. Feel real bad? Do the dishes or clean up your room. You will still feel bad when you are done but you will not feel as bad as you would have if you had done nothing. Protect your mind. It has to last a lifetime. I considered not sending this email… but I changed my mind. I suspect you need all the advice you can get. Silly or not. Purpose is a great medicine. I don’t know how to say how sorry I am for all who have suffered. Words fail me. Take care and be well.
Best of luck,
Barry

So impressed with your strength and courage.
I live in Cape Town South Africa and am keeping up to date with all your progress against gun violence.

As a 72 year old grandmother who fears for the future my grandchildren will inherit, I hope you might broaden your efforts from March for Our Lives to Vote for Our Lives. In that way your movement could become an umbrella for all sorts of issues, like climate change, that threaten the security and quality of life you and your peers will have in the future. I was very inspired by your courage and abilities and wish you good luck in whichever way you decide is best to move forward.

Bite the Bullet
A common sense solution to the gun debate.
Thank you students of Stoneman Douglas for taking a stand. Here is a simple solution. Please feel free to make this idea your own.

First – The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution grants our right to bear arms…
“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.”
That says it all. No restrictions on owning a firearm, period. End of debate. All Americans have the right to own guns. Piecemeal restrictions on guns will always hit this 2nd amendment wall.
Second – There is no mention by the authors of the 2nd amendment regarding our right to endless amounts of inexpensive ready to fire high caliber high velocity ammunition. In fact, our Founding Fathers only knew that ammunition had always been carried in component parts and ASSEMBLED IN THE FIELD one round at a time. In the spirit of the Constitution and within the framework of our forefathers understanding, the following remedy is proposed:
HIGH CALIBER, HIGH VELOCITY, CENTER FIRED AMMUNITION WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE IN THEIR COMPONENT PARTS. FULLY ASSEMBLED READY TO FIRE AMMUNITION WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE TO THE PUBLIC.
Rim fired 22 caliber and shotgun shells will continue to be sold fully assembled and remain widely available.
Shotguns and 22’s will always be available for hunting birds, small game and home defense. Lost boys looking to assault a school or take a sniper perch will only be able to readily buy 22’s and 12 gauge shells. These rounds have limited effective range and lack the ability to pass through walls and people. The devastation of their hideous acts will greatly be diminished. Casualties will still happen but with far fewer fatalities. A vested security guard armed with a 9 MM won’t hesitate to advance and return fire. Criminals will find it harder and harder to replace the big boy bullet casings they leave behind at crime scenes.
Prominent in the 2nd Amendment but often ignored is the term ‘well regulated militia’. The authors didn’t consider a militia to be part of the military or any other government entity. If they did, they wouldn’t need to be well regulated. To the Founders, the militia was any man with a gun who knew how to use it. Back then knowing how to aim and pull the trigger wasn’t enough; they also had to know how to assemble a round in the barrel and prime it. In that same spirit most modern hunters and gun enthusiasts reload their own ammunition already.
Today a militia can be defined as any individual, family, organized club or other nonprofit entity with interest in guns and the capability of reloading high caliber high velocity center-fired ammunition. To be regulated and allowed to purchase the components would require demonstrating the capability and knowledge to reload ammunition, the safe handling and secure storage of explosives and agreement to label and be accountable for the ammunition they assemble. The officers of these registered militias under penalty of law will be responsible for preventing their shells from being used in any criminal activity.
Restricting fully assembled ammunition will have little impact on law abiding gun owners. The powder, primers and bullets will continue to be available for reloading as many law abiding gun owners already do. Any new shell casings manufactured in the future will have a serial number that law enforcement will be able to trace back to the militia that purchased it.