Archive: Opinions

The horrific violence and loss of life at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT has opened up the hearts and minds of all Americans with an outpouring of support and concern for the victims and their families.  As disbelief slowly fades and the 20 young children and the 6 faculty are laid to rest, our nation mourns the loss and seeks to find answers to such a tragic event in which so many innocent victims were brutally murdered by a lone gunman. 

In the aftermath of such a tragedy, we are heartened by the stories of heroism of the faculty and staff at the school.  In a desperate situation, where a deranged gunman armed with assault weapons, ruthlessly murdered innocent children, these adults performed acts of bravery and love beyond measure.  With quick thinking and a keen sense of duty, the faculty and staff at the school focused their efforts on saving the children regardless of any harm they might endure.

Some paid the ultimate price in attempting to save the lives of their young students.   They demonstrated the real meaning of a public service placing the lives of the kids they teach above their own.   No college curriculum or graduate school training could have ever prepared them for the situation that faced them last Friday.  It was sheer instinct to preserve the life of young children that made these adults react with such clarity and calm.

The President and members of both the Senate and the House are in favor of reinstating an assault-weapons ban and back any law to close a loophole in gun-show sales.   The original law, passed in 1994, banned the sale of assault weapons and large ammunition clips.  That law expired in 2004.  The topic is so contentious that many politicians are afraid to even mention the topic for fear of losing their elected position. 

Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the United States has experienced 30 other mass shootings in which unarmed individuals were brutally gunned down by shooters armed with assault weapons.  As a gun owner and hunter, I see no logical reason why any law abiding citizen would want to own an assault weapon of any kind or have a need for armor piercing bullets.  Automatic and semi-automatic weapons have one purpose only, and that is to inflict pain and suffering upon its victims.  In each of these 31 events, the goal has been achieved. 

When Congress addresses the issue in 2013, I hope they bring with them the faces and stories of those 20 children and 6 faculty members from Sandy Hook Elementary School as a reminder of how close all of us are to another senseless mass killing.  Evil wins when good people stand by and do nothing to prevent the evil.  We can talk about mental illness and video games, culture and social responsibility, but outlawing assault weapons, large ammunition clips, and armor piercing bullets it where our country needs to begin this debate.  And that is to the point. 

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