Today December 14th is the one year anniversary of an event that rocked this nation to the very core, an event that as it unfolded caused us to stop what we were doing and take notice, catch our breath and watch, and as the horrific events unfolded we were stunned into silence and tears as we learned who the victims were. 20 children aged 6-7 and 6 adults were gunned down in cold-blood that day, a day that started full of promise and hope, tragically ended in a way that no one could have imagined.
As a nation we all were outraged and disgusted by what happened that day, we all knew the pain and anguish that the people of Sandy Hook were experiencing, we were with them in their pain, we were grieving with them that day and the days following because as a nation we had been through 16 mass shootings that year, that had left 88 people dead, we had been worn down by grief and anguish. We had shed tears until we could shed no more and now once again we were faced with another mass shooting, one that did not have to happen.
One moment we were anticipating the upcoming holidays and the next moment we were stunned into grief, mourning the deaths of 26 innocent human beings and as a nation once again we were reminded just how precious and fleeting life can be.
As nation why do we allow these mass shootings to keep happening, to not do something about the gun violence epidemic and all these sadistic injuries is cowardly and demented. It is our ethical duty as a society to try and prevent gun violence, to prevent more murders from happening. Yet we have done nothing because we have let the bullies win.
We shouted out loud and clear that we cannot allow these children to die in vain; we cannot allow that, we need to enact sensible gun legislation, but we enacted nothing. We should be ashamed of our cowardly selves because we have allowed these children to die in vain.
The mantra that we all hear from the NRA and the gun advocates is that guns don’t kill people, but that people kill people. That is a lie, guns do kill people, need proof, just ask any survivor from the Sandy Hook murders. I believe they will tell you that guns can and do kill people.
We need to replace that lie with the truth “Only bullies carry guns”. Gun advocates and the NRA threaten and coerce us into not passing sensible gun legislation, they are the bullies that have aggressively imposed their dominance over us and we are cowards because we have failed to stand-up to the NRA and gun advocate bullies.
People kill people with guns all of the time and that should clearly tell us that we need to prevent psychotic people from getting guns and ammunition, we need to severely restrict the types of guns sold and we need to severely regulate how guns are sold.
We need to put in place a precise and comprehensive investigation of any buyer’s background. Only cowardly people oppose background checks and we opposed background checks.
Legally and ethically the US Constitution’s Preamble trumps the 2nd amendment. The Preamble states “to insure the domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity.” How can we be free and prosper when we are cowards, afraid to stand-up to the gun advocate bullies?
The President if he wanted to could declare the sales of guns and ammunition must be regulated for safety of the people but he has done nothing. We could very easily pass laws to protect the health and safety of the people when it comes to guns and ammunition but we are cowards, we refuse to stand-up to the bullies.
America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, and we cannot be free from gun violence until we are brave, brave enough to stand-up to the gun advocate bullies.