
The gun lobby is desperate to silence these kids.

Rick Santorum sparked outrage when he told school children to learn how to treat gunshot victims, but NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch has an equally absurd suggestion: that kids pay for their own school security.

During Thursday morning's "Fox & Friends," Loesch was asked about the massive "March For Our Lives" demonstrations that took place last weekend. While she professed a belief in "free speech," she had reservations about the protests.

"I just think that all of the money that was spent on concerts and Port-O-Potties, and 'cuz they had armed security there as well, a lot of that could have been spent on school security measures," Loesch argued.


"All of the individuals could be meeting with elected officials," she added. "You can march all day long, [but] you have to follow it up with action."

Like Santorum's advice that the kids learn to treat their own classmates' gunshot wounds, Loesch's suggestion is as insulting as it is absurd. Kids shouldn't have to worry about being gunned down at school, let alone about how to pay for measures to defend their schools.

And Loesch's accusation that the Parkland activists aren't taking action is an obvious lie. Within days of the gun massacre, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School boarded buses to Tallahassee to meet with lawmakers. A week later, they met with lawmakers in Washington, DC. Their activism has focused on registering and getting people to vote.

In fact, these activists are organizing town hall meetings with lawmakers so that anyone, including Dana Loesch, can be heard on the issue of school safety and gun violence. You're welcome, Dana.

Loesch's suggestion is similar to Santorum's in more ways than its mere absurdity, though. Both of them are delivering the explicit message to kids that being attacked by gunmen at school is simply a fact of life to which they must adapt.

But more tellingly, Santorum and Loesch are telling these kids to heed their advice instead of organizing to end gun violence. More than anything else, such desperate pleas for silence are the surest sign that what these kids are doing is working.