On the three year anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy NBC News published a story with the headline "Since Sandy Hook, an American Kid Has Died by a Gun Every Other Day." When I read the headline I was angry and discouraged, but with no federal gun reform in the three years since Sandy Hook, I wasn't surprised.
We can't expect our children to be safer when no action has been taken to make them so. And as I sat there shaking my head feeling frustrated and helpless, I realized that I was guilty of letting the loud minority—the one with the weapons and the funds—quiet my voice.
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The second amendment is clearly important, but not as important as the first. We have a right to demand freedom from fear. We have a right to speak out against gun violence until our children live in a country where being shot is not a worrisome threat.
Enough is enough. Restricting and regulating gun ownership needs to happen. Your right to bear arms should not outweigh a child's right to live.
Enough is enough. Restricting and regulating gun ownership needs to happen. Your right to bear arms should not outweigh a child's right to live. Guns are design to kill. And handguns, the most common gun used in the deaths of children, are specifically designed to kill people. It is impossible for me to understand why there shouldn't be strict background checks and regular required education for anyone who wishes to own a gun. I'm done worrying about who I might offend with these opinions.
And I hope that mothers all over the nation will join me in demanding change. Write your Congresspeople and ask for a federal law that honors not just the 20 innocent children that died on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary, but the 555 that have fallen prey to gun violence since. One child dead at the hand of a gun is too many.
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We should be doing everything we can to educate and protect our youth. Teach your children what to do if they encounter a gun. Talk to your neighbors about gun safety. Speak up until the voice of concerned citizens drowns out the gun lobby and forces change. It's what this country was founded on and what those weapons are supposed to protect.
There should be plenty of debate on the issue, but ultimately there should also be action. Don't read a headline like this and feel as though nothing will ever change. Read it and get so fired up you join a movement.
Because bad things happen when good people do nothing.
