As I scroll through my Facebook feed I see a lot of political cartoons, articles, news reports, and debates. But what I have seen more than anything else is older family members fighting with their daughters, sons, daughter-in-laws, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grandchildren, etc. As someone who comes from a family with members on both ends of the political spectrum (and everywhere in between), I have heard passionate accounts for and against stricter gun laws.

I would like to preface what I am about to say with this: I do not want anyone to interpret this as an attack on those who are fighting the move for restrictions on the second amendment. I respect that people's political views are influenced by life experience and usually familial or cultural norms. I am grateful to live in a country where we can have these discussions so openly and without fear. That being said, I ask that my opinions are received with the same respect.

I am infuriated by the conservative news anchors and politicians who aggressively dismiss survivor's (and anyone else who is supporting them) opinions "because they're just kids".

First, those kids are going to be voting in the next election, so maybe instead of degrading them on national television you should be trying to help them understand your points and have civilized conversations.

Second, dismissing opinions because of age is ignorant. The situation could easily be reversed. What if people lost the right to vote after a certain age because they couldn't possibly understand modern politics?

You would probably say how ridiculous that is because older generations have wisdom and experience and are a valuable piece of democracy, and you'd be right. So why is it inconceivable that the next generation, full of fresh eyes and new perspectives, would also be a valuable asset to democracy?

The other appalling factor of this disregard is that these kids have just experienced something more horrific than most politicians will ever experience. Dismissing these opinions is like telling a veteran that they can't have a negative opinion on war because they haven't necessarily had extensive education on international politics. The arguments don't stand. Education is important, but theoretical knowledge has limits that experience does not.

I think part of the issue here is also one massive misconception. The March For Our Lives movement, and other like it, is not pushing for a country without guns. They are pushing for a country without unnecessary gun violence. So no, I am not here to "Take your guns" or whatever it is your afraid of. I believe in the Constitution, including the second amendment. That being said, I don't understand why people are against more thorough background checks prior to purchase, age limits, and stricter rules preventing career criminals from obtaining guns.

At the end of the day, we are all doing the same thing: fighting for our rights. The only difference I can see is one group is fighting for the right to bear arms and the other is a generation of students trying to enact change so no one has to be afraid to go to school.