The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Observations: “Think about this: The abortion lobby is responsible for more deaths of innocent unborn children than school shooters. There are millions of children who will never be able to try out for the high school football team or enjoy any of the rights we take for granted. That lobby is embraced by the Left. But one group that defends the rights of citizens is reviled by the Left. Go figure.” —Gary Bauer

Another perspective from the Florida shooting victims: “I wholeheartedly believe that the media is politicizing this tragedy. It seems that gun control laws is the major topic of conversation rather than focusing on the bigger issue of 17 innocent lives being taken at the hands of another human. … I know many people who are pro-gun and others who support gun control but it seems that the media is specifically targeting those in support of gun control to make it seem as if they are the majority, and the liberal news outlets are the ones that seem to make the bigger effort to speak to these people.” —Brandon Minoff, a student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

With “conservatives” like these… “We need to repeal the Second Amendment because most gun-control legislation is ineffective when most Americans have a guaranteed constitutional right to purchase deadly weaponry in nearly unlimited quantities. There’s a good case to be made for owning a handgun for self-defense, or a rifle for hunting. There is no remotely sane case for being allowed to purchase, as Paddock did, 33 firearms in the space of a year. But that change can’t happen without a constitutional fix. Anything less does little more than treat the symptoms of the disease.” —New York Times’ Bret Stephens

Braying Jenny: “Kids or guns — what do you value more?” —MSNBC’s Katy Tur

Non Compos Mentis: “Teens between 14 and 18 have far better BS detectors, on average, than ‘adults’ 18 and older. Wouldn’t it be great if the voting age were lowered to 16?” —Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe

And last… “Ironically, the people arguing that we should let teenagers set national gun policy are in the same breath arguing that we should not let 19-year-olds own guns.” —Dan McLaughlin