"I think that Robt. Mueller investigating Russian interference, might beg to differ    ;>)"

Mueller and I wouldn't differ about the criminality of the interference and the need to nail the perpetrators.. I have no idea whether we'd differ about the effect of it. To my mind, the gerrymandering engineered by the founding fathers (sic), and its extension up to the present, played a role in Clinton's defeat more important by an order of magnitude.

But this is drifting.

I have no basis for this, other than my feelings, and my recollection of what happened before when students across the nation started walking out, but it seems that the circumstances are just right for a precipitating action like the response of the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I feel something has changed:

Support for stricter gun control legislation was already at an all time high. Also, significantly, in 2014, I believe, US homicides hit their lowest point since the mid-60s. There's been a slight uptick since then, but NO ONE wants to go back to where it was 15-20 years ago. The fear of loss is always stronger than the hope for gain, so the fact that gun homicides are at a relatively low point actually improves the prospects for meaningful legislation.

I think that people will now be more receptive to other facts: the plague of gun suicides, double the gun homicide rate, the smaller but still unacceptable accident rate, and beyond the various deaths, the immense physical and mental damage resulting from non-fatal injuries. Before, those non-homicides didn't seem to carry much weight. Libertarian gun ADVOCATES made the point that most gun deaths were suicides, a matter of individual choice, of our precious liberties. if you will.

I don't think that will fly anymore.

Maybe I'm just delusional; maybe even if there is a groundswell, it won't affect legislation nationally. But it feels very different, thanks to those students and the real, not robo, response to it.