"By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim… we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is there to say on a December morning, ten days before Christmas when as I write, the names of the twenty children, killed by a madman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut are about to be read on CNN? They were babies. Innocent, beautiful babies. Their parents have, no doubt, already bought their Christmas gifts. They've taken their annual photos with Santa. They've put up their trees and Christmas lights. Who will unwrap those presents now? Who will take down the trees and pack the ornaments away? How will the parents of those children go on? How can they even breathe?
In the weeks ahead, this story will fade from the news. Eventually Colombine did. Eventually the shooting that gravely wounded Gabby Gifford did. Eventually, the movie theatre shooting did. So what's the plan now? Will we only remember this horror when the next mass shooting occurs?
Since yesterday afternoon, I've been hearing that this is not the time to talk about gun control. So far, four guns have been found - three inside the school and one in the shooter's car. One of them was a semi-automatic assault rifle. In the name of God, I'm begging all my friends and family in the U.S., stand up today. Take action. Make changes. If not now, when?
The gun culture is pervasive. My comments on FB have received responses that 'it's not the guns' or 'I need to have guns to protect myself' or 'it's our handling of mentally ill people'or 'we need to start with our own inner child work instead'. This scares me. Surely we can all agree the guns are a symptom - but they are killing babies and making moms cry. Any act that makes a mother cry is an act that needs to be stopped. We can work root causes at the same time. How is it ok to accumulate assault weapons that are semi-automatic? What kind of hunting is done with such a weapon, other than hunting man? From my brief exposure to this topic, I see what the gun control lobby is up against. I have written to my representative so my voice was heard on this topic. I felt the need to take some action. How will those parents survive this intact is beyond me. I liked President Obama's words and that he read their names individually.
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