On Twitter, on TV news shows, Parkland students are calling out the politicians who've been bought and paid for by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and have refused to stop the sale of assault weapons commonly used in mass shootings like the one this week that claimed the lives of 16 students and a coach.
Is this what it will take for the politicians to listen and actually do something?
"A gun has killed 17 of my fellow classmates," one student said on Twitter. "A gun has traumatized my friends. My entire school, traumatized from this tragedy. This could have been prevented."
Right wing commentator Tomi Lauren angered students when she tweeted, "Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness. This isn't about a gun it's about another lunatic."
Carly Novell, a 17-year-old senior who hid inside a closet during the shooting, responded to her on Twitter:
"I was hiding in a closet for 2 hours. It was about guns. You weren't there, you don't know how it felt. Guns give these disgusting people the ability to kill other human beings. This IS about guns and this is about all the people who had their life abruptly ended because of guns."
Later, Novell appeared on CNN and said, "While we were in there, we were all still talking about gun control and how something needs to change. We were in a closet and we were still thinking about this. It matters all the time. There's no waiting period.
"I just want people to stop talking about it, and then not doing anything," she continued. "People keep saying 'Your thoughts and prayers' and all these things, but it doesn't make a difference if nothing ever changes. This happens over and over again, and people are dying."
On CNN, the NRA and politicians who take their money were blamed directly by one student for the killings.
“It’s Rick Scott and Marco Rubio who allowed this to happen,” student Cameron Kasky said. “They are enablers, and the blood of 17 people and all those injured and all the families that have been hurt, this is all on them. They have us thinking that this is inevitable, and that we can’t do anything to stop it, that it’s too difficult. We’re done with that. The GOP has abandoned us and left us to people like Nikolas Cruz.”
Junior Alex Wind took issue with House Speaker Paul Ryan's statement that it's not the time to take sides on gun control.
“I disagree with that statement because it’s very clear that there are two sides to this, and there are certain people that accept money from the NRA,” he remarked. “I believe Speaker Ryan is one of those people. It doesn’t seem that the country is coming together, it seems that they’re sending prayers and condolences, but not taking action like they need to be.”
In 2012, after 20 first graders and six adults were murdered with an assault rifle at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, the same debate occurred. Politicians sent thoughts and prayers to victims. There was much hand wringing and statements that "this must never be allowed to happen again."
Since then, the politicians have taken no action to even control the sale of assault weapons, let alone any other form of gun control legislation. And since then, there have been at least 239 school shootings nationwide, with 438 people shot and 138 killed.
Maybe these Parkland kids can wake up our nation and motivate us to replace the NRA's shills in Congress, because that's what it's going to take.
Enough is enough.
Or is it?