SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that
fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School
felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those
children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember
their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that
they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students
heard if the gunman found them.
On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear
and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for
criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of
deadly firearms — a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those
in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many
communities to count.
Some of the senators who voted against the background-check
amendments have met with grieving parents whose children were murdered
at Sandy Hook, in Newtown. Some of the senators who voted no have also
looked into my eyes as I talked about my experience being shot in the
head at point-blank range in suburban Tucson two years ago, and
expressed sympathy for the 18 other people shot besides me, 6 of whom
died. These senators have heard from their constituents — who polls show
overwhelmingly favored expanding background checks. And still these
senators decided to do nothing. Shame on them.
I watch TV
and read the papers like everyone else. We know what we’re going to
hear: vague platitudes like “tough vote” and “complicated issue.” I was
elected six times to represent southern Arizona, in the State
Legislature and then in Congress. I know what a complicated issue is; I
know what it feels like to take a tough vote. This was neither. These
senators made their decision based on political fear and on cold
calculations about the money of special interests like the National
Rifle Association, which in the last election cycle spent around $25
million on contributions, lobbying and outside spending.
Speaking is physically difficult for me. But my feelings are clear: I’m
furious. I will not rest until we have righted the wrong these senators
have done, and until we have changed our laws so we can look parents in
the face and say: We are trying to keep your children safe.
We cannot allow the status quo — desperately protected by the gun lobby
so that they can make more money by spreading fear and misinformation —
to go on.
I am asking every reasonable American to help me tell the truth about
the cowardice these senators demonstrated. I am asking for mothers to
stop these lawmakers at the grocery store and tell them: You’ve lost my
vote. I am asking activists to unsubscribe from these senators’ e-mail lists
and to stop giving them money. I’m asking citizens to go to their
offices and say: You’ve disappointed me, and there will be consequences. MORE.
Gabrielle Giffords,
a Democratic representative from Arizona from 2007 to 2012, is a
founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions, which focuses on gun
violence.
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