One of the most surreal incidents that occurred in the MarchforOurLives took place in New York when Paul McCartney reflected how “one of my best friends was killed in gun violence.” He was referring, of course, to the murder of fellow Beatle John Lennon at the hands of a deranged person named Mark David Chapman in 1980. The invocation of the musician best known for the song “Imagine” was unfortunate for a number of reasons.

First, no gun law would have prevented the death of John Lennon. The weapon Chapman used was already illegal in New York City at the time.

Second, McCartney and Lennon detested one another. Their rivalry led to the breakup of the Beatles ten years before. Despite some attempts to reconcile, their continued animosity prevented a reunion, which was long dreamed about by fans of the iconic group.

Children’s crusade or astroturfing?

The MarchforOurLives events were depicted in the media as a spontaneous uprising of school students demanding “common sense” gun laws so that they might be protected. The Daily Wire reports that the truth is a little more complicated. The organization behind the march registered as a 501(c)(4) organization which allowed it to keep its donors secret. It turns out that some of the usual suspects, anti-gun groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety, Planned Parenthood, and the Women’s March were really in charge of the march.

The kids were just expected to show up and play their parts in the event that had little to do with school safety and a lot to do with abolishing private firearm ownership in the United States.

Scenes from a protest not very edifying

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air noted some of the aspects of the #MarchforOurLives event in Washington that were less than edifying.

Signs calling for the abolition of the 2nd Amendment, attacking the Republican Party, and even suggesting that the mild-mannered Sen Marco Rubio, R-Florida had blood on his hands were in abundance.

One has to have naught by sympathy for kids who suddenly found their school a free fire zone even as one has to feel naught but ire for the adults who are exploiting them.

However, some exemptions exist.

David Hogg has already made himself infamous for his obscenity-laced interviews on cable news. His performance at the march in Washington, complete with a fascist salute, was just as unedifying. Emma Gonzalez appeared on the stage sporting a paramilitary jacket with the flag of Cuba, a country that has stringent guns laws, sewn on the sleeve. Samantha Fuentes vomited before concluding her speech.

The wrong issue

As we have mentioned before, school shootings are not a very pressing problem. According to the Washington Post, the chance of someone dying in a school shooting is about 1 in 614 million, around the risk of being hit by debris of the Chinese space station now due to fall to Earth.

On the other hand, 4400 school students take their lives every year due to bullying. The same children who marched about, yelling, waving signs, and having a great time protesting could help to cut into that carnage by opposing bullying. However, standing up to victims of that crime among their own ranks is not as much fun as street theater for the TV cameras. As our president might say in one of his tweets, sad.
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