In my opinion...


March 1, 2000...
Until today I was unmotivated to reconstruct this page...events in my state yesterday, February 29, 2000, changed that. A six year old boy carries a gun to school, hides it in his pants, and shoots a six year old classmate. As I read reports and watch the news on T.V. I'm struck by the complete horror of this tragedy. The question of why this six year old boy committed murder bothers me...but the bigger issue of HOW he got possession of a gun bothers me more. Not only was this stolen gun in his home, there was at least one more. I've always believed that we need stronger gun control in this country and this incident doesn't change my mind on that. Yes it's also an issue of parental responsibility...but obviously in this case there was none...and we as citizens can't rely on the "sound judgement" of parents when it comes to guns.

To those that will say...."guns don't kill people...people kill people"....I say HOGWASH! YES the gun can't pull it's own trigger...but I'll be damned if I'll believe that any six year old...or even an eleven year old has enough maturity to make any kind of consiencious thought behind carrying a gun, let alone pulling the trigger. YES parents need to educate their children...especially if there are guns in the home and YES parents need to be held accountable if their gun is accessed by their children, but I don't want MY kids to be in the classroom if one of those parents fails to keep their guns out of the hands of their children! So relying on parental control is obviously not working...what can? GUN CONTROL!

Don't wave the second amendment in my face....in the late 1700's our forefathers could not have imagined a world like ours! I doubt that anyone today that owns a handgun is a member of any organized government "home militia", that's what the second amendment is refering to and it's time we stopped letting the gun advocates hide behind it!

The company I work for is now making decisions about selling rifles and handguns in my local store. I have spoken out a bit about this...letting them know that I am morally opposed to this decision. But today, I will refuse to be any part of this planned "retail" move. I will NOT be responsible for selling an instrument intended only to kill...it's time to draw the lines wherever we can. Will my refusal stop it? Nope! It's not enough...but it's something!

I don't have all the answers....just my opinion....

There is a "grassroots" movement that has formed to band together mothers who see gun control as an issue that is every bit as important as a decent education for our kids. If you would like to learn more about it...check out their website!

The Million Mom March

In my humble opinion....these Mom's are definatly on the right track!