Sensible gun laws, saving our children -- WSC Nursing Class of 2001

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Date Posted: 07:08:24 05/16/00 Tue
Author: Allison
Subject: Sensible gun laws, saving our children

12 children die every single day from gunfire in America! 3 of those children took their own life. Within five years, the American Pediatric Association www.APA.org , predicts that death and injury from guns will be the number one cause for children over one, exceeding automobile accidents. This is a terrifying prediction. On Mother�s Day this year I went to Washington DC and participated in the Million Mom March. Our goal is sensible gun laws: licensing and registration of all guns, require background checks for all firearm purchases and childproof safety locks on guns to keep our children safe.
We are not trying to take away the guns from responsible citizens who want them, but more than 60% of guns involved in murder are neither licensed nor registered, this small step could save the lives of many of our children. You wouldn�t want to be on the road with millions of unlicensed drivers, you wouldn�t want to have someone who lost their license for numerous driving offenses back on the road without taking measures to prevent recurrences of these offenses before giving them back their license � why would you want someone who has been charged with domestic abuse to be able to puchase a gun without taking steps toward rehabilitation? You would not allow an unlicensed driver to drive a vehicle registered in your name, yet in many instances including Columbine, people bought guns for the perpetrators. Because the guns are unregistered, the purchasers have no penalties for giving these weapons to irresponsible people who used them to kill. Having a national registry would prevent someone who has been turned down in one state to go to another state and purchase a weapon.
Handguns have one purpose � to kill a human being. Automatic weapons have a single purpose � to kill many human beings quickly. When the NRA says we are targeting sportsmen, I would ask them what sport allows the gunning down of innocent children? What support allows you to shoot another human? I do not know what sport they are talking about, but if anyone out there wants to enlighten me, please do so. 12 children are dying today because of guns. 12 children died yesterday because of guns and 12 children will die tomorrow because of guns.
Many people purchase handguns for protection. Unfortunately a gun in your home makes your home 43 times more likely that the death caused by that gun will be a family member. Not twice as likely, not 5 times or 10 times as likely, not 20 or 30 times as likely, but 43 times as likely to cause the death of your family member and not a criminal. Responsible gun laws provide for responsible gun ownership and the safety of our children. They do not take the guns away from responsible citizens.
The reason for this letter is three-fold. I am interested in starting a campus alliance to end gun violence at Worcester State. This can also be done at every school, if your children are in a school and you want to get involved in the schools your children attend write for information to: Campus Alliance to End Gun Violence PO Box 73695 Washington DC 20056. Anyway, if anyone is interested in pursuing this at Worcester State, and I am particularly interested in younger students especially those who live on campus because you guys are at greater risk than some of the rest of us for gun violence, please contact me by e-mail or call me at 978-355-2162.
Second, I am working to organize a first Monday 2000 march. These are local marches that will take place on Monday, October 2 around the natiion. To find out specifically what they are about you can go to the website www.firstmonday2000.com. Anyone who is interested in getting involved can contact me by e-mail or phone. I apologize to our professors for we will not be able to attend class on that day, however, if we can reduce the death rate of children caused by guns each day, not attending class on one day is insignificant in comparison, and I would urge all of you teachers to join us in our march.
Third, for those of you who do not want to get involved, there is still the greatest weapon available to you: it is our responsibility as citizens and it does make a difference. It is the single, greatest effector of change. It is the vote. All of us must take action and vote. If you have not registered, please do so. Your vote does make a difference. If you don�t think so, please listen to what our opponents are saying about our march. They are afraid � why? because we are strong, organized, unified and we vote. Without our voting power they could do what they please, but because we vote, they must pay attention. To find out how your congressperson votes on gun legislation you can visit the Children�s Defense Fund website at www.childrensdefense.org . Make no mistake about it, George Bush has been heavily funded by the NRA and the vice president of the NRA has been quoted as saying �if George Bush wins in November, the NRA will finally have a seat in the white house.�
From 1979 to 1997 more Americans died from gun violence than all the Americans who fought in every single war ever fought combined. 12 children die every single die from gunshots. It could be your child next. We need to take action and stop the killing of our children.
For those who would like to find out more about gun control issues please visit all of the websites listed above as well as the following:
www.apa.org
www.childrensdefense.org
www.firstmonday2000.org
www.commoncause.org
www.suicidology.org
www.ask.org
www.handguncontrol.org
www.bellcampaign.org

The Million Mom March drew more than 750,000 of us, mostly women, to DC and in 73 cities throughout the nation. We can make a difference. If you are interested in helping to stop the killing of our children by establishing sensible gun laws, please contact me and we can work together on this very important issue. There are 12,000 McDonald�s restaurants in the U.S. there are over 100,000 gun dealers. Guns are a multiBillion dollar business. We are fighting a formidable foe, but we love our children more than they love their guns AND our children are not profit motive based. I hope to hear from all of you.

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