Let Your Voice Be Heard

Like many of us this week, my heart is heavy over the tragic loss of life in Connecticut last Friday.  All those beautiful, innocent children and their protectors - gone.

In addition to grief, I find myself feeling more and more angry.  How could this happen?  After all the mass murders in this country in the past 15 years, how could there be yet another tragic incident like this?

I get that some Americans want to have a gun.  Or two.  They hunt, or perhaps they enjoy shooting, or maybe they think it will keep them safe.  But why on earth does an average citizen need a weapon whose sole purpose is to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time?  Why does anyone need a clip that holds 30 bullets? Or even 10 for that matter?  Let's face it - if you're a hunter who needs to be able to fire 10 bullets in quick succession, it's time to find another sport.

Gun advocates like to point out that if guns aren't legal, then criminals and the mentally ill will either get them anyway, or find another way to hurt people.  To some extent, that's true.  Look at the incident in China that also happened on 12/14/12, where a man attacked schoolchildren with a knife.  The difference in this instance is - NO ONE DIED.  And yes, there are still other ways to commit mass murder. But my question is - why do we have to make it easy for them?  The statistics are pretty clear - in the US there are significantly more mass murders than any other country on the planet.  We have what are probably the weakest gun laws on the planet.  Coincidence?  I think not.

The NRA is a powerful voice in this country because politicians believe that the NRA will force them out of office if they support stricter gun control laws.  But the fact of the matter is, more Americans support stricter gun control than not.  (See Jjiraffe's wonderful post here.)  We can make a difference.  Our voices can be heard.

Please, contact your Senators and Congressmen, contact your state legislators.  Let them know that you will VOTE AGAINST them if they don't vote for stricter gun laws.  Be specific.  We need laws that restrict the number of bullets in a clip.  Laws that make assault rifles illegal (and are clear about what an assault rifle actually is - multiple gun experts have been asked if the rifle used in the Connecticut shootings would have been outlawed under the old assault rifle ban, and not one of them was able to answer conclusively).

Sign the White House petition.  As of this posting, only 188,200 people have signed it. How is that possible?

Let your voice be heard.  If we are all vocal, if we all stand up and say, "Enough is enough," we CAN overpower the voice of the NRA.

It's worth 5-10 minutes of your time.  Now and again next week.  Next month.  The month after that.  Over and over again until laws are finally passed.

We need good, strong laws.  These laws won't prevent every madman from killing people.  But it will decrease how often it happens, and how many die when it does.  And law abiding people who want guns will still be able to own them.  They just won't be able to own guns designed to massacre a large number of people in a few short minutes.

Something tells me our founding fathers would approve.