Education Secretary addresses gun control rally in DC

Some of the speakers at the rally for gun control in Washington said they were Second Amendment lovers and wouldn't dream of taking away anyone's guns.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan:

"I'm here less as an education secretary, and more as a dad," Duncan said.

Duncan said he was at the event as a "respecter of the Second Amendment, a lover of the Second Amendment." But other speakers weren't as conciliatory.

"Today we join the majority of Americans who want to move this country off the outskirts of civilization into the civilized world of nations who protect their children," said Norton, a Democrat. "Who protect them from assault weapons and armored-piecing bullets, who limit magazines, who perform background checks if you want to purchase a gun."

Thousands of attendees silently marched from the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument, drawing whoops of support from passers-by. Members of the D.C. Council and families of victims of the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre led the procession. While some marchers held signs declaring "KIDS YES, GUNS NO, NRA $$$ HAS GOT TO GO" and "REGULATE GUNS, NOT VAGINAS," 1,000 held simple black-and-white signs bearing the names of victims of gun violence.

The event, which was organized by Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith, was largely put together over the past month on Facebook and Tumblr. While officially non-partisan, the event had distinctly Democratic traits at times, with participants repeatedly chanting "Yes, we can!" and Smith invoking the president's inaugural address.

Duncan invoked the memory of dead children in Chicago where he was schools superintendent. Very sad but he failed to mention that Chicago has the most draconian gun restrictions and criminals still managed to murdrer more than 500 Chicagoans last year.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC's delegate to Congress, is also without standing to talk about gun control. Washington has the most restrictive gun laws in the nation according to some measurements, but that hasn't decreased the gun violence.

If only all those speakers would explain how the president's plan would actually do what he says it will do and reduce gun violence when Chicago and Washington have tried even harsher gun control measures without success.

But then, that would mean applying logical thinking to a problem when obviously, proponents of gun control want you to feel emotional, rather than think rationally.