When students all over the country stepped out of their classrooms on Wednesday, many believed they’d change the world. They thought people would suddenly realize that gun control is essential for whatever reason. Not all thought that, mind you, but a decent number did.

And they were wrong, as the state of Kansas decided to remind them.

Kansas lawmakers rejected a series of gun control measures one by one on Thursday, the day after students nationwide walked out of class to protest school shootings.

The sprawling debate demonstrated the Legislature remains solidly in favor of gun rights.

A shooting in Parkland, Fla., killed 17 people last month. That led to walkouts Wednesday across the country and in Kansas, including at the Kansas Capitol.

Thursday, senators voted against more than half a dozen measures, including:

▪ Prohibiting rifle purchases for people under 21

▪ Imposing a three-day waiting period on some gun purchases

▪ Allowing public colleges to decide whether to allow concealed weapons

Senators did unanimously pass a bill making it a state crime for people convicted within the past five years of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense to have a firearm.

They also passed a bill requiring Kansas to recognize conceal-carry permits from other states, 25-15.

The defeated gun control measures came in the form of amendments to that bill.

The fact is, Kansas isn’t exactly friendly to the idea of gun control, and no number of protests are likely to change that. Especially since the problem with these mass shootings almost always tends to happen with people that have huge red flags beforehand.

Rather than infringe on the rights of ordinary Americans, why not focus on these red flags and see if there’s anything that can be done before a shooting, something that can alert police that there’s a potential problem. Those exist, as we see in the case of Parkland and most other tragedies of this sort. We would be much better off focusing on those rather than the implement used.

After all, someone determined to kill but lacking the ability to get a gun will seek out another tool.

Meanwhile, the law-abiding citizen is disarmed and unable to respond to any number of potential threats. Luckily, at least Kansas officials recognize that and are doing what they can to block such foolishness. I’m unsurprised that anti-gun lawmakers have moved to try and ram stuff like this down citizens’ throats, but I have to applaud the saner members of the legislature for stopping it.

No matter how much wishful thinking anti-gun zealots offer up, laws will not stop maniacs from killing people. It’s high time they stop punishing those who didn’t do it in the first place. If they want to be serious about preventing these tragedies, offer up something that at least looks like a real solution for a freaking change.

I and most other gun rights advocates aren’t going to hold our breath, though. We already know better from long years of experience. But, maybe one day, one of them will surprise us.