Van Jones is the host of the #VanJonesShow and a CNN political commentator. He is the co-founder of #cut50, a national, bipartisan criminal justice organization fighting to safely and smartly reduce the prison population while keeping communities safe. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Gun violence is rocking our world again -- and our politics. But even as political rancor runs high, Americans' views are dramatically shifting.

A poll released Tuesday by Quinnipiac shows that 66%, or two-thirds of Americans, now want stricter gun control laws -- the highest recorded by Quinnipiac University since it started polling the issue after Sandy Hook. According to the poll, support for tougher gun laws has jumped almost 20 points since December 2015. It also found a ban on assault weapons was backed by 67% of those surveyed.

Will policymakers take heed? The answer seems to lie in an unlikely place: with our children.

The children of Parkland, Florida, are leading and people are listening. Jesus would be proud.

Our children, as much as they receive our professions of love, have not always received our respect. In Jesus' time, children had very little status, and yet when his disciples were turning away the children and not allowing them to come receive blessings, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."