A real divide exists in America, not between those who want to "do something" and those who don't, but between those who believe there is a natural right to own and defend oneself with a weapon and those who do not. .....

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By
David Harsanyi

CNN recently hosted an anti-gun town hall featuring a number of grieving children and parents from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who aimed their ire at the National Rifle Association, politicians peripherally associated with the NRA and anyone who didn't say exactly what they wanted to hear. It was an event where a student could compare Sen. Marco Rubio to a mass murderer and question whether NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch truly cares about her children without ever being challenged.

I hope CNN got the rating it was looking for, because it's almost guaranteed that NRA membership and gun sales are about to spike.

Between all the demonizing, heckling, sophistry, gaslighting, platitudes and emotional appeals, members of the crowd -- people who should never be the target of conspiracy theories or ad hominem attacks but shouldn't be exempted from a real debate either -- booed a rape survivor's story and cheered at the idea of banning "every semi-automatic rifle in America."

A star-studded lineup of liberals, many of whom are funding the activism of Parkland students with big checks, cheered with them. Do they all agree that every semi-automatic rifle in America should be banned? Do they agree that anyone who supports legal semi-automatic rifles has "blood on their hands"? Someone with access should ask.

What we do know is that the entire liberal political class couldn't stop praising the activism and lack of "cynicism" displayed by these kids (a selective admiration reserved for those who coincidentally align with their positions). The kids were indeed earnest, even if they were generally uneducated about gun laws, legal process and the underpinning of the Second Amendment -- which is to be expected. Those who use them as political shields, on the other hand, are cynical. Those who put them on TV to participate in a national Airing of Grievances are cynical. Those who point to the bodies of victims and argue with every American who refuses to accept the left's framing of the issue are the ones who deserve contempt.