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You had to be there. As Americans took to the streets Saturday, defying a political order that, in Washington and many state capitals, has allowed extremists to write gun laws, the bodies -- of both the dead and the living who marched in their honor -- mattered a lot. Hundreds of thousands in cities big and small showed up. It was an extraordinary coming-out party for a movement that is now, at long last, undeniably mass. ...The confluence of those forces -- opposing sexism, racism, corruption -- into the March for Our Lives is only the latest confirmation of how spectacularly the National Rifle Association has gone awry. As one handwritten poster in Los Angeles, drawing on the slogan against sexist exploitation in Hollywood, stated: “Hey NRA Time’s Up.” (Francis Wilkinson, 3/24)

They made the case in Washington, D.C, in Miami, in New York, in Buenos Aires and in scores of other cities. At the March for Our Lives, Saturday, they spoke as one: “Enough is enough.” ...And, of course, Emma Gonzalez, the dominant face and voice of what fellow students are calling “the revolution” demonstrated the enormous eloquence of not speaking at all. Her six minutes and 20 seconds of silence were riveting. (3/25)

The U.S. loses more than 30,000 people to gun violence each year not because Americans are uniquely bad people, but because America has uniquely flawed laws. Other nations -- America's peers around the world -- have laws that elevate human beings over guns. Today, in towns and cities across the U.S., Americans will march with the goal of bringing their own laws, which render life cheap and tragedy abundant, better in line with their values. (3/24)

For several hours on Saturday, cynicism was banned from the streets of what on many days seems to be the most cynical city in the world. Throngs estimated to number up to 800,000 gathered because a group of determined, organized, eloquent and extremely shrewd high school students asked them to come, and because too many Americans have been killed by guns. Suddenly, hope-mongers were stalking the nation’s capital. They believed, against so much past evidence, that the National Rifle Association could be routed. (E.J. Dionne Jr. , 3/25)

Perhaps, after the next massacre — following the “thoughts and prayers,” of course — some television network should have the guts to show the reality that ( Rick) Sanchez described. Show the blood, brains, guts and gore. Let honest video tell the truth about our routine human slaughters. Just the facts, ma’am. (Joe Lapointe, 3/25)

On Saturday, students from the Florida high school that was the scene of a mass shooting in February inspired more than 800 “March for Our Lives” rallies demanding better gun laws. The marches came on the heels of national school walkouts organized by students on March 14. Of course, Americans have been talking about the need for gun reform for a very, very long time. But the way young people have now taken the lead, demanding that the shooting result in change and creating a playbook for other kids to copy, is likely to finally force lawmakers to take action. (Kara Alaimo, 3/26)

Gunmen who shoot up “gun-free zones” have radically different backgrounds and motivations from those who engage in other forms of gun violence. A full-spectrum approach is required, addressing not only guns, but several other factors. (Jon Gabriel, 3/24)

At its core, the nationwide March for Our Lives campaign is an anti-war movement. It’s trying to put an end to a war we’ve been waging — and continue to wage — against ourselves. Whenever there are large public demonstrations, such as this weekend’s student-led March for Our Lives protests, we ask ourselves whether they represent the beginning of something big, or the end. Are the protests simply a noisy expression of our exasperation over gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and all the others, or are they the first step in what could be a long, bipartisan legislative process over gun laws? (EJ Montini, 3/25)