I want to echo a view that’s been expressed in the growing debate over gun violence.

It is that we are in the midst of an “American crisis” that transcends partisan politics.

Seventeen more Americans were gunned down on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. It has ignited rage among students who want the school-related carnage to end.

Parents and other loved ones gathered today at the White House to implore Donald Trump to take action to stop it. The president listened, offered some of his own views.

There is a common theme running through much of the discussion we are hearing. It is that the nation ought to unite behind the cause of searching for a solution to stop the bloodshed.

It might be a mighty stretch to believe we can set aside partisan differences in that search. It remains my fervent hope that just perhaps we have reached our national breaking point — and that we can find enough common ground to solve this national crisis.