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.
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