Speak Up About Guns

To the Editor,

This past Sunday, hundreds of thousands of moms, dads, grandparents, and children came to Washington, DC, for the Million Mom March. Thousands more held rallies across the country. My daughter and I were two of those who marched on the Washington Mall. This was not a political event nor a call for the repeal of the Second Amendment. This was a voice, a thunderous voice, telling the NRA and Congress that we as a nation are outraged by gun violence taking place every day in this country.

We want to live in a country where our children are safe in their schools, safe on the streets, and safe in a friend’s home. A country where we can go to work, or the post office or McDonalds, and not have to worry about a disgruntled former employee coming in with a gun with the sole intent of killing someone. Contrary to what the NRA would have you believe, guns do actually kill people!

We have laws in this country that require us to register our cars. We need a license to operate a motor vehicle. We need a state license to fish. Even our dogs need a license! Yet the NRA would like us to believe that licensing gun owners and registering handguns is an infringement on their rights.

We have locks on our houses and locks on our cars. And the NRA would like us to believe that putting safety locks on guns would infringe on their rights. Tell that to the 12 children who are killed every day in this country by guns. Compare the gun death statistics of our country with the other prosperous countries of the world. We have more gun deaths in this nation than all the other nations combined. It is shameful.

The time has come to stand up for our rights. We have the right to ask gun owners to register their guns as they do their automobiles, to obtain a license to operate their weapon as they do their car and to put safety locks on their guns as they do their medicine cabinets. No one is taking away their right to bear arms. Don’t take away my right and that of my children to live, work, and go to school in a safe environment.

For those of you who feel as I do, don’t sit by any longer and watch the violence continue. Find out how your congressman and senator vote on gun issues. Tell them how you want them to vote. They represent you! If you don’t speak out, the NRA will gladly do the talking for you. The NRA may have the money but you have the vote! The march is now over, the movement has just begun. Contact www.millionmommarch.com.

Robin Callahane

High Rock Road, Sandy Hook                                     May 16, 2000