I hesitated to write this post for fear of the backlash that I may experience. And I beg for generosity of spirit from everyone reading this. And know that I do not advocate taking away the rights of any American. I do advocate however for having a Constitution that reflects life in the 21st Century and not the 18th. For anyone whose immediate response would be to hate me for what I am about to write - all I ask is that you ask yourself -- Where is the value added to your life as an American? To the lives of your children and their children? Is there more value in saving a life or is there more value in retaining current gun purchase practices? Polls show that the majority of Americans WANT more requirements around someones ability to buy a gun. Do people kill and not guns? Of course the gun can not fire itself. BUT, the fact is that WITHOUT a GUN, the person wielding it would either not be able to kill or at least have a harder time killing and perhaps could be stopped in time to save lives. Let us not fight one another about this issue. Let us instead choose to pause and consider what is more important? Simple answers come easily when it is the life of someone elses loved one. BUT, who among us would say that we would willingly give up the life of OUR husband or OUR child or OUR parent in order to protect the status quo of gun purchases? Would we not all agree that everyday life was different in 1776 for Americans than it is now? Could we not all agree that what was written into law made sense then for everyday Americans but that times have changed and what made sense then is not required now? Our lawmakers need to form a non-partisan, diverse, joint CIVILIAN and government committee to look at ALL aspects of violence in our country, NOT just gun violence. There are no simple answers. BUT IT IS TIME TO FIND ANSWERS. Other countries have found a way without taking away freedom and rights of their citizens. We are not a stupid country. If Australia, Britain, and other countries can do it then AMERICA most certainly can do it. And do it better! And we can do it TOGETHER, for all of us, and so that future generations may have a more peaceful existence. What will be our legacy to future generations of Americans? HAVE WE BECOME SO APATHETIC that we will choose to leave them a country where violence is tolerated? Will we leave them a country where we do not know if our children will come home alive from school? Will we leave them a country where our response to killing sprees of any kind is to turn off the TV so that we do not have to deal with it? Will we leave them a country where the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many? This is no longer about gun control. This is about banding together to support solving VIOLENCE of any kind in OUR country. This is about AMERICANS saving AMERICA as the greatest nation on Earth and not as the punch line for comedians and other countries. Please, I beg you all, find the courage to vocally support solving citizen on citizen violence in our country. I write this next bit to get the attention of The White House and our politicians......... President of The United States POTUS (assuming like so many do that social media is being monitored for certain words and phrases...) Mr President and Congress - you can either by your silence say that you do not care what is happening out here where we are not protected 24/7 by guards and the Secret Service, OR you can lead the charge on this and establish a commission to solve American violence. Someone in government has to step up and be the HERO for us all.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 11:51:33 +0000