Dr. Clarence Jones is a remarkable man, now in his 80s, still active and alert. Fifty years ago, as Martin Luther King's personal attorney, he drafted the "I Have a Dream Speech." And over the years he has remained at the forefront of many programs and efforts to enhance Dr. King's legacy through continued concerns about equality and civil rights.
Now he is turning his attention to gun violence and believes that ending gun violence is a moral imperative just as ending discrimination was and remains a moral imperative. He just put up a Post on gun violence on Huffington, and you can read the entire text there, or you can flip down and read excerpts here.
So, what are we grandparents and parents today, going to say to our children and grandchildren if we are asked what did we do in the aftermath of the massacre of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT?
What are going to say to them when, all reliable polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of the American people favor background checks for prospective purchasers of guns? Are we doing anything to try to make a difference?
What do we say to our children and grandchildren to indicate that we did something to actively indicate to our representatives in Congress that a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines should at least be the subject of debate in Congress? We cannot say honestly that there is nothing we could do.
For example, we can stop sitting silently on the sidelines and join with persons in the newly created non-partisan citizens efforts of EVOLVE. EVOLVE seeks to organize grass roots support for the smart and responsible ownership and use of guns. It is dedicated to creating behavior change among gun owners that make the world a safer place for all of us.
EVOLVE believes that "the casualness towards guns and responsibilities are at an all-time high in America." It is committed to elevating the standards of gun responsibility in America through creating a new cultural norm.