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Dear Editors:
Silver linings are scarce after the Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, mass shootings. When I hear the term “white teenage male,” my mind defaults to an image of Kyle Rittenhouse – or worse.
Thankfully, David Hogg, a 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor, erased some of my pessimism in a recent MSNBC interview.
Hogg, 22, and several of his high school classmates met with lawmakers and organized a Washington, D.C. rally that led to some Florida gun controls. He fielded MSNBC interview questions with poise and professionalism that I could have only dreamed about at his age.
One political party is not only expected to win big in November’s election, but also gain momentum into 2024. That party might want to consider a new generation of voters adept at communicating legitimate anger, impatience, and an evolving view of Second Amendment rights. They’re the latest “mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore” generation and I think they mean it. The generation that watched repeated violent acts against their peers knows who in Congress is serious about gun control – and who isn’t.
On Election Day, they might introduce their own replacement theory.
Jim Newton
Itasca, Ill.