G is For Gun Control

By Mary Hill

“This is not about politics. This is about doing the right thing for all the families who are here that have been torn apart by gun violence,” President Obama today said as he addressed a a packed crowd at the University of Hartford, just 50 miles from the site of the December shooting in Newtown, Conn yesterday. “It’s about them, and all the families going forward so we can prevent this from happening again. That’s what it’s about.”

Gun control is such a hot button issue because a few have so much control.  The NRA has millions to spend to circumvent public opinion which favors strengthening gun control laws in three key areas:  banning assault weapons like the one used in Newtown to kill those precious children; limiting  ammunition magazines to 10 rounds  and setting up a nationwide system for background checks before guns are sold even at popular gun shows and by individuals.

These are simple common sense reforms, but somehow they are being blocked and stymied.   Why? 

I can remember hearing about the shooting in December.  I still see the faces of those children most of them only six and seven years old.  Yes, these type of events do not occur everyday but they have happened to much in the last decade.  Obama summed up my feelings on the issue eloquently:

“If there’s even one thing we can do to protect our kids, don’t we have an obligation to try? If there’s even one step we can take to keep somebody from murdering dozens of innocents in the span of minutes, shouldn’t we be taking that step? If there’s just one thing we can do to keep one father from having to bury his child, isn’t that worth fighting for?” Obama said.

Some groups that are fighting for gun control and an end to gun violence include: 

 

The Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence.