The recent
school Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT cost 26 lives. It is everywhere I look on social media
sights and in the news. People are
holding candlelight vigils, holding their own children tight, and finding ways
to grieve.
It was my initial
expectation that this tragedy would lead to legislative action to help prevent
future shootings and keep our children, our educators, our citizens safer. But I have read some things online that leave
me deeply disturbed, and worried about our nation’s ability to work with one
another to respond appropriately to this horrible tragedy – not just with candlelight
vigils, but with action.
Candlelight
vigils are important; we need to take time to grieve as individuals,
communities and as a nation after what has happened. But I am no longer content to do a few
commemorative things to make myself feel better and then get on with my busy
holiday schedule. I am a mother of two,
and my throat gets tight, my eyes burn, and my hands shake when I think of the
possibility of living life after losing one of my children to violence. I cannot imagine the feelings of those who
have lost theirs. We owe it to them, and
to all of our children who we are still lucky enough to have with us, to do
better.
Where do we
go from here?
This is not
a one solution problem. When I posted
asking people to join me in sending extra holiday cards to legislators, I focused
on gun reform. But as the
heart-wrenching post titled “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother” illustrates, we cannot
forget the importance of making quality mental health care available in this
country either.
Ask
yourself; “What could help prevent a future shooting tragedy?” If you believe
in advocating for better mental health care, I agree with you, let’s do
it. If you believe that semi-automatic
weapons have no place in a civilized society, I agree with you, let’s push for
gun reform. If you believe that funding
violence prevention programs and addressing school bullying is important, I
agree with you. Let’s do it. What I don’t agree with is doing nothing.
Here are
some things I believe:
I believe
that everyone in this country who is of sound mind is horrified by the tragedy
that occurred on Friday.
I believe
that this nation is capable of change, great change, and that our legislative
system is one of the most powerful instruments of change.
I believe
that we can reform gun legislation without violating people’s second amendment
rights, and without jeopardizing our citizens’ ability to hunt or to
protect.
I believe
that adding regulation to the process of purchasing and possessing firearms to
increase people’s safety is not only possible but necessary.
Here are
some things I do not believe:
I do not
believe that arming our teachers is a realistic solution to this problem. I have actually read posts where people state
that if a teacher in Newtown had had a gun, lives would have been saved. Even if it were realistic to expect our
teachers to be trained in gun safety, and agree to carry firearms, can we
possibly believe that having more guns in our classrooms is worth the risk to
our children? One tired teacher forgetting
to lock a cabinet is one too many. I
believe it is a much more practical, economic, and sensible solution to make it
more difficult for potential perpetrators to obtain firearms than it is to arm
our teachers. I can’t believe I feel
compelled by a number of online posts to write this.
I do not
believe that second amendment rights necessitate hobbyists being allowed to
purchase semi-automatic guns and 100 round magazines in order to have fun in
their backyards.
I do not
believe that illegalizing semi-automatic firearms and placing greater
restrictions on gun sales is useless because “anyone determined to hurt people
will find a way.” I don’t believe in
making it easier for anyone to hurt my children, and if the number of people in
this country who lock the doors to their cars and houses is any indicator, I’m
not the only one who feels this way. Any
extra step someone needs to take to obtain firearms is an extra chance for a
family member, counselor, or law enforcement to notice that someone could be
planning to hurt themselves or others and step in.
I hope that
you will think hard about what you believe, and join me in supporting our
legislators, our educators, and any organization that is doing work that helps
prevent violence. Please help keep my
children safe.
Hi Kelly- I also live in Massachusetts and I have 3 kids attending public schools.I agree with you 100% on all of your points posted here. I think writing to our legislators is a good first step, but there has to be more that we can do.
ReplyDelete