Excerpts from the following commentary appeared in the Morning Call newspaper of Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
It was written by friend of mine, Fritz Walker, who has been working tirelessly for months to change Americans' attitudes about gun violence. Fritz is a local team leader for Organizing for Action, a grassroots group working to carry out President Obama's legislative and policy proposals.
OFA is working one person at a time to support comprehensive background checks for people who apply for assault weapons. Here are excerpts from Fritz's column. ...
It was written by friend of mine, Fritz Walker, who has been working tirelessly for months to change Americans' attitudes about gun violence. Fritz is a local team leader for Organizing for Action, a grassroots group working to carry out President Obama's legislative and policy proposals.
OFA is working one person at a time to support comprehensive background checks for people who apply for assault weapons. Here are excerpts from Fritz's column. ...
"On Dec. 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot his mother multiple times in the head with a .22-caliber Savage Mark II rifle. He then packed up a Bushmaster .223-caliber assault rifle with high-capacity, 30-round clips, a Glock 10 mm handgun, and a Sig-Sauer P226 9 mm handgun, and headed to Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolin Newtown, Conn.
"After shooting his way in, he proceeded to discharge 154 rounds from the Bushmaster, murdering 20 innocent 6- and 7-year-olds, and six of their teachers. He then shot himself with the Glock after being spotted by first-responding police officers. The entire Sandy Hook episode lasted 10 minutes. ...
"Uniquely sensational in its horror, Newtown garnered more media attention than Aurora, Virginia Tech, the Sikh Temple, the Amish schoolhouse, Columbine — the list goes on and on. But most gun violence in America doesn't grab the headlines.
"Year after year, more than 30,000 Americans are shot and killed: about 37 percent are homicides, 60 percent suicides, and 2 percent accidental shootings. More than 70,000 are injured, about 50,000 in attacks, 16,000 in accidents and only 4,000 suicide survivors. Those 100,000 represent wives and husbands, children and parents—human beings.
"Year after year, more than 30,000 Americans are shot and killed: about 37 percent are homicides, 60 percent suicides, and 2 percent accidental shootings. More than 70,000 are injured, about 50,000 in attacks, 16,000 in accidents and only 4,000 suicide survivors. Those 100,000 represent wives and husbands, children and parents—human beings.
"I held the father of a Newtown victim in my arms and felt his anguish almost a year after his loss. But while the 30,000 Americans killed annually get far less media attention, the loved ones of these mostly anonymous dead feel similar pain and anguish. In a very real sense, throughout America, we are Newtown.
"When Brian David Jr., age 7, and Nicole David, age 8, of Brockport, Elk County [Pennsylvania], are murdered by their father, David, on the Fourth of July this year, who then turns the gun on himself, we are Newtown.
"When police say 62-year-old Anthony Alexander of Philadelphia shoots Jennifer Fitzpatrick, 37, in the chest at point-blank range in front of their 4-year-old son in February, one day after she'd obtained a restraining order against Alexander, we are Newtown.
"When 3-year-old Lucas Heagren of Ohio finds the loaded handgun temporarily hidden by his father under the sofa, points it at his right eye, and pulls the trigger a year ago on Memorial Day, we are Newtown. ...
"We can debate on another day what common-sense measures should be taken to reduce this carnage while respecting Second Amendment rights. For now, [on] the one-year anniversary of Newtown, we continue to live with the pain of far too much gun violence. For now, in the Lehigh Valley, and all across America, we are Newtown."
Please write your local congressman and senator to demand that they support comprehensive background checks on anyone who wants to purchase a gun. It won't solve the problem entirely, but it is an important step. We must weed out criminals, the mentally ill and others who have evil intensions or are unable to handle guns safely. You can find the names and contact information for your legislators at www.house.gov or www.senate.gov.
Please write your local congressman and senator to demand that they support comprehensive background checks on anyone who wants to purchase a gun. It won't solve the problem entirely, but it is an important step. We must weed out criminals, the mentally ill and others who have evil intensions or are unable to handle guns safely. You can find the names and contact information for your legislators at www.house.gov or www.senate.gov.
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