March for Our Lives was a worldwide event today. My only question is whose lives?

March for our Lives is a response to the Parkland shooting and supposedly is nonpartisan. This one? More like a DNC meet and greet. This supposedly nonpartisan march is rather pointedly and nastily partisan. From what I have seen in signs and cuss-filled rants from the spokespeople, the March for our Lives is all slogans and no solutions. In fact, it is a lot of posturing and speeches but no actual changes.

And appallingly, posters like, well, this:

The #MarchForOurLives has brought out a whole lot of anti-NRA signs (as well as Democrat politicians taking part in the totally “nonpartisan” protest), but few sum up the calls for civil gun debate in the wake of the Parkland shooting more than this one about Florida Senator Marco Rubio:

This #MarchForOurLives attacks Marco Rubio for his Catholic faith and draws a blood cross on his forehead. pic.twitter.com/4zrhlkQreN

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) March 24, 2018

Because insulting someone’s faith right before Holy Week is appalling. And I am Protestant. So whose lives are you marching for? Quick tip from an adult who can work an iPhone (and who prefers the Pixel 2): you lose more than you gain when you encourage this crap. Because to change minds you have to be able to sell your story or product. Bipartisan means you get two different sides together to solve a problem. But since you are only focusing on the weapon and not school safety, your movement will not create change. Just more division.

When you got solutions you demanded, you did not like them. Because ID badges and clear backpacks were no fun. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? Yes, Mr. Hogg, part of increasing school safety means clear backpacks and ID badges. I get it: it sucks to have your world turned upside down. And have a gun pointed at you. Been there and done that. I worked at a bank. A gun free zone which was not followed by the guy with a gun. And it was scary. Not the gun, but the fact that someone does not care about their life or the lives of the people around them. A couple years later, our neighborhood store was robbed. The reason the staff walked away that night was the manager returning fire. The maniacs who were there to rob them did not want to leave witnesses. Quick note: convenience store workers and bank tellers have a hazardous job. And guess who is not allowed a weapon?

To realize this inhuman beast who murdered your classmates could have been stopped but never was. That the adults failed you. But don’t waste this chance to change things. Meadow Pollack’s dad and brother have a message, too. They were not allowed to speak. Because they do not walk in lockstep with you and the Democrats, um, leaders of your group? That is not bipartisan. Nor is it a march for our lives. It is a march for those who agree with you in every way.

Denying a family the right to speak like this makes you no better than the Tiki Torch-bearing, polo shirt-wearing fools in Charlottesville. And you are better than that! Mr. Pollack has a solution, but it is not as easy as curbing gun sales to legal buyers.

See, I get wanting to be able to go to school or walk down the street or sit in your house and not get shot. But there is a problem. Safety is not always fun or convenient. It may mean having a closed campus and mandatory photo IDs. It means competent police officers on campus and around campus. And conversation at the state and federal level about mental health treatment. These are long overdue solutions. And cannot be solved with marches and slogans and t-shirts.

So here is what you can do: actually be bipartisan. Help the Pollacks and the sixteen other grieving families through some firsts no family should have to go through. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, big holidays. Be there when Meadow’s dad opens a park. And maybe even promote programs like #benice. Because, in the end, systemic failure caused this massacre. It wasn’t the existence of the NRA and long guns. One person who snapped caused this. And a lot of people failed him and your classmates and community. One person who needs to go is the Sheriff of Broward County. Scott Israel has blood on his hands. So does the resource officer who ran away and did not protect nor serve you and your classmates. Then demand a school safety plan. March for that and you may find a whole lot more support. Oh, and stop cussing. It does not make you a grown man, Mr. Hogg.