LOOKING FOR GUN SAFETY
I am looking at the photo in the Huffington Post of the tears being wiped away by Erica Smegielski, daughter of slain principal Dawn Hocksprung of Sandy Hook Elementary School, after hearing that once again the U.S. Senate chooses to do absolutely nothing about sensible gun legislation while 80% (different polls vary) of Americans support several forms of gun safety legislation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reaction-senate-gun-control_us_5768524ce4b0853f8bf1d738?section=
And yet, spineless Ron Johnson couldn’t stand up to the NRA and vote for gun safety legislation that 80% of Americans support.
Ron Johnson’s bought-and-paid-for heart-of-stone can’t feel the pain of the thousands and thousands and thousands of people who are mourning for their loved ones touched by gun violence.
I am looking at the photo of the Capitol covered in red in the New York Daily News with the headlines: “Slaughter House: Senate votes in favor of continued mass killings…NRA won victory over common sense Monday as Senate defeated bills to curb gun sales to those on the no-fly list..”
“Through the first 172 days of 2016, there were 145 mass shootings in the U. S., according to the Gun Violence Archive.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/daily-news-senate-guns_us_5768a959e4b0fbbc8beb83de?section=
Ron Johnson’s blood money of $33,925 (these numbers vary) from the NRA tells the story of another bought and paid for politician. Ron Johnson’s cowardly vote is an affront to every American who is mourning for their loved one touched by gun violence.
I am looking at the 26 white crosses and the white angels symbolizing the 20 children slaughtered along with six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in an article entitled, How Many Tears?, written by Jim Wallis, in the March, 2016, issue of Sojourners.
https://sojo.net/magazine/march-2016/how-many-tears
Jim Wallis attended the White House meeting where President Obama announced “new executive actions on background checks and other gun enforcement and safety issues.” “The East Room of the White House was full of the victims and family members of victims of mass shootings…” “Many families who had lost children or parents were there. Former member of Congress Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, were there.”
“It was the people and the faces that moved me—and moved the president.”
President Obama said, “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad,” as he wiped away the tears.
Jim Wallis ends his article this way: “I pray that as we go forward in 2016, a year in which it’s likely that another 30,000 people in this country will lose their lives to gun violence, we find the courage to join together in this critical task of discernment, which must lead to action.”
Obviously, more tears need to be shed before spineless Ron Johnson and the GOP will stand up to the blood money of the NRA.
I agree with President Obama: “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad.” Every time I think of the thousands slaughtered by gun violence, I get mad. Let’s do everything we can to support sensible gun safety legislation including: contacting legislators, writing letters to the editor, knocking on doors, and donating our time and money.
In an interview after the Orlando slayings, Johnson had this to say: “We have to quit distracting the American public with these nonsense debates…about gun control.” Imagine telling that to the victims and families who are mourning—that debating gun legislation is a distraction and nonsense.
Gabby Giffords had this to say after the Senate voted on Monday, June 20th, in an email from Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC: “And in the wake of another mass shooting—the deadliest in modern American history, the Senate chose to do the unimaginable: nothing at all.” She goes on to say: “Well, I am a fighter and I am not going to give up now.”
To illustrate just how cowardly the GOP are, guns won’t be allowed at their National Convention.
Donald Trump said: “delegates risked becoming sitting ducks, utterly helpless against evil doers and criminals.” Imagine that—the GOP are afraid of evil doers and criminals while helpless children are slaughtered along with thousands of others each year.