Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg’s fifteen minutes of Warholian fame began ignominiously, with many on the Right claiming — falsely, as it turned out — that he was a “crisis actor” planted by the Left.
Since then, the 17-year-old Hogg has become something of a media darling, appearing on virtually every major network and cable news program to promote the “NeverAgain” movement, which, the Miami Herald notes, has received $2 million in funding from George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and fellow Hollywood celebs.
On Saturday, Hogg took to Twitter to ask collegians to boycott Florida as a spring break destination unless state legislators pass gun control legislation.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Let's make a deal DO NOT come to Florida for spring break unless gun legislation is passed. These politions won't listen to us so maybe the'll listen to the billion dollar tourism industry in FL. #neveragain
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) February 24, 2018
Later the same day, he donned his travel agent hat and recommended Puerto Rico as a spring break alternative, advising not only that “it’s a beautiful place” but that the island “could really use the economic support that the government has failed to provide.”
Better Idea: Spend your spring break in Puerto Rico, it's a beautiful place with amazing people. They could really use the economic support that the government has failed to provide. #SpringBreak2018 #SBinPurtoRico #itsspelled PUERTO RICO
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) February 24, 2018
Many on the Left seem ready to nominate Hogg for public office, which makes sense since his understandably naïve world view (he is a teenager, after all) is a distillation of their own. They, too, are eager to pass more stringent gun control laws without first bothering to determine the likely long-term impact, if any.
When they do, they are often surprised at what they find. Leah Libresco, a former writer for Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, penned an op-ed in The Washington Post last August with the cautionary title “I used to think gun control was the answer. My research told me otherwise.” Among her findings:
When I looked at the other oft-praised policies, I found out that no gunowner walks into the store to buy an “assault weapon.” It’s an invented classification that includes any semi-automatic that has two or more features, such as a bayonet mount, arocket-propelled [sic] grenade-launcher mount, a folding stock or a pistol grip. But guns are modular, and any hobbyist can easily add these features at home, just as if they were snapping together Legos.
David Hogg will grow up in due course and may come to see life and its events in a less black-and-white, right-or-wrong way. The majority of adults on the Left are long overdue.
