Twenty Children Slaughtered: Do We Accept This?
You don’t have to be a mother to feel sickened by the news of the elementary school shooting in Connecticut yesterday.
You don’t have to be a doctor to understand the physical damage that can be done to a human body by the weapons used in that attack.
The weapons used were a Glock 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and a Sig Sauer .233 semiautomatic rifle.
Semiautomatic weapons are capable of firing multiple rounds of ammunition per second. The Washington D.C. based Violence Policy Center has branded Glocks as the “favorite for mass shooters” and “efficient killing machines”. Per Sig Sauer’s website, it is “one of the world’s most sought after military rifles”.
These weapons are meant for killing people.
So why are we surprised when that’s exactly what they are used for?
Yesterday we heard the president tearfully make a call for “meaningful action”. But today, the news is tinged with doubt that any meaningful action can happen with the Republicans in control of the House and the National Rifle Association in control of the Republicans.
This evening we drove past a group of parents holding a candlelight vigil, with a banner that read “Stop Gun Violence”.
We can’t do that until we stop making it so easy for violent people to obtain guns.
Here is a heartbreaking NY Times op-ed on this by Gregory Gibson as he reflects on his own son’s murder in a school shooting 20 years ago.
Here is an excellent NY Times op-ed on this by Nicholas Kristof that succinctly sums up the issues.
If you are represented by a republican in the House, call him/her Monday morning. (Call, not email.) Say something like, “I am calling to urge Congressman XXX to immediately support strong gun control
measures to ban assault rifles and otherwise prevent gun violence. If I do
not see his immediate public support on this matter, he will not have my
vote in the next election.” The republicans need pressure/support from their constituencies to get this done. I doubt my rep here in suburban NJ is a big NRA guy, but it takes some nerve to go against his party, so he needs to know how his constituency feels. Signing petitions is nice, but a direct call to your rep is more effective.
I am not an American, so I have no right to weigh in on your country’s politics, but did want to say that I wholeheartedly agree with you.