ABOVE: Students with hands up after SWAT enters the classroom in Florida, 2/14/2018
Editor’s note: The opinions in this letter are the authors’ only.
Citizens’ Media TV encourages all viewpoints. Please submit your letters to the editor
| Please support independent journalism. Help pay for Citizens’ Media TV. |
OPINION: Children are more important than the Second Amendment
A letter to the editor by Lesya Popil, Cinnaminson
Here is how I feel. When I turn on the news and I see lines of children, walking with their hands over their heads, I want to throw up. I see the real possibility of my 15 year old son, or the children that come into my office daily, walking in that line one day. I see that, children are not protected, and so must you. If you are talking about the second amendment right now and how yeah, you have the right to bear arms, you need protection, you want it for sport, just stop. I feel slightly incoherent right now, and it was not my son in that line, nor any of my clients. I cannot imagine what the families are feeling right now. Let’s not ignore this.
Take action, regardless of political affiliation. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need gun control now. Vote for members of Congress that support gun control and vote out those who take money from the National Rifle Association. Make your voice be heard.
| Please support independent journalism. Help pay for Citizens’ Media TV. |
OPINION: Thoughts, prayers, and meaningful action!
A letter to the editor by Joanne Christos of Wrightstown NJ
Like you, I am grieving for the family and friends of the innocent lives slaughtered by another mad man with an assault weapon.
Like you, I have had enough of the politicians who offer “thoughts and prayers” when it is time for them to take meaningful action.
Rep. Tom MacArthur, spouting the party line, is one of those drones who mindlessly offers “thoughts and prayers” when these tragedies occur. MacArthur takes campaign contributions from the NRA — and cosponsored the dangerous legislation that allows out-of-staters to carry their concealed weapons in New Jersey. (Do you feel safer now?)
What do the massacres in Las Vegas (58 murdered), Sandy Hook (27 murdered), Virginia Tech (32 murdered), Orlando (49 murdered), Sutherland Springs (26 murdered), and Parkland, Florida (17 murdered) have in common? Killers brandishing AR-15/AR-15 style assault weapons.
Would-be killers can easily buy an AR-15 — there are about 8 million of these type weapons in the U.S., and plenty of states with lax gun laws and unlicensed sellers. Legislation and enforcement is a common-sense place to start to address this problem. Yet politicians are deflecting their own responsibility to keep us safe, putting the onus on civilians, including children, to notice and report signs of an individual’s troubling behavior. When such behavior is reported, in most instances law enforcement’s response is limited by law to just documenting the concern. It’s not an effective way to prevent violent crime.
Politicians are attempting to shift the focus of this debate by framing it as a mental health issue. Other countries also have mentally ill citizens — and yet don’t claim 38,658 gun deaths in a year, as the U.S. did in 2016. Why? Because other countries recognize that tighter gun regulation is an effective way to significantly reduce gun violence. And their children are safer.
It is our responsibility to insist that politicians enact common sense gun laws such as banning the sale of AR-15/AR-15 style assault weapons, high capacity magazines, bump stocks, and armor-piercing bullets; enhancing mandatory background check requirements and standardizing them in all states; structuring the National Instant Criminal Background Check for confidence, instead of speed; and regulating firearms as we do cars — with mandatory licensing, registration, and insurance. Additionally, the government must collect and study data about trends in gun violence.
If current politicians refuse to act, it is incumbent upon us to vote for representatives who will listen to their constituents, listen to the majority of Americans who support common sense gun laws.
On November 6, 2018 make your voices heard. Please vote for candidates who will keep our children safe — by passing good legislation, not just by offering thoughts and prayers.
| Please support independent journalism. Help pay for Citizens’ Media TV. |
Editor’s note: The opinions in this letter are the authors’ only.
Citizens’ Media TV encourages all viewpoints. Please submit your letters to the editor
| Please support independent journalism. Help pay for Citizens’ Media TV. |
Citizens' Media TV 