Yesterday I received an E-Mail from Sen. Richard Blumenthal D-CT discussing his views on Gun Control & the Mass Murders in Newtown, CT. I'd like to share the E-Mail and my response with you. We need to respond to these E-Mails from our elected leaders in congress to let them know we support or, disagree with their position to keep "Gun Control Legislation" cooking on the burner. If our leaders in congress are not generating letters or, e-mails detailing their position on "Gun Control Legislation" we need to make them respond by writing them demanding action!
Please take the time in your busy day to do your part in making democracy work, by writing your elected representatives in congress, asking them to take meaningful action in the efforts to pass "Gun Control Legislation" in our country under siege.
Read Sen. Richard Blumenthal's E-Mail & My Response under the orange doodle...
December 27, 2012
Dear Friends,
Earlier this month, a tragedy befell the community of Newtown, Connecticut. I have spent most of these past few weeks in Connecticut and will never forget the sights and sounds of a grieving but strong and resolute, tight-knit community.
I first learned about this incident in the midst of a normal day. As the details mounted, I left Hartford to go to Newtown and to the firehouse in Sandy Hook. I arrived there as a public official but what I saw was through the eyes of a parent. The firehouse in Sandy Hook is where parents went to find out if their children were okay. The way they found out was that their children appeared – or they didn’t. And after a while, some of the children came, some were reunited with their parents there or at the school, and their parents took them home, and, sadly, others did not.
After that day, I was in Newtown many times, attending a local board of education meeting with town, state, and federal officials, participating in church services, funerals, and vigil memorials including one joined by President Obama. I spoke with police, fire and emergency responders and participated in a meeting of Newtown teachers and leaders. I observed acts of kindness and caring, large and small − too numerous to mention − showing remarkable solidarity.
Again and again, people in Newtown and across Connecticut have beseeched me: Please do something about gun violence. Indeed, Newtown has prompted national reflection and a call to action all around America. It is the right time to ask what we can do to prevent future tragedies. I urge all people who share that view – that we need real change to make America safer – to make their voices heard.
I will work to keep faith with the Newtown community and find a solution to this crisis that is rooted in common sense. I will work with the President, and my colleagues in the Senate, regardless of party, and with any organization that is willing to engage in a thoughtful, constructive discussion about the steps we need to take.
Here are some necessary steps:
We must do something to effectively ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
We need to better prevent mentally ill people and criminals from having access to firearms.
We need to close loopholes that enable 40 percent of all gun sales to be made without background checks.
I have also heard from many constituents, asking what can be done and how they can help. At the vigil Sunday night, two of the children came up to me to show me some of the necklaces they had made, with 20 blue beads, each one for the child victims, and six stars for the adults. In the midst of tragedy, I saw this earnest hope from the children of Newtown that the friends and teachers that were senselessly taken from them would never be forgotten.
There is no single, simple solution, but our nation clearly can and must do something to stop the vicious spread of gun violence that victimized 20 young, beautiful children and the professional educators who courageously sought to protect them from this horrific massacre.
Thank you for your support for Newtown – and all of Connecticut – during this difficult time. This is my commitment today. To do something. In fact, to do everything I can as a Senator to prevent the next tragedy. As a former law enforcement official – and as a father – I cannot do less. I know there are some who say that we can never do anything about the problem of gun violence, that we are entrenched as a nation, that we will just continue to wring our hands after every massacre but never take action. And yet sometimes events happen that so horrify our country and our fellow citizens, that they change the nature of the discussion. They change the political ground under us. They are a tectonic shift. And I believe that the massacre of these innocent children and their loving teachers in Newtown is exactly such an event. This is our moment and we are the people to do it. And with your help we can and we will.
And so it is with eyes trained on a better, safer future, my family and I wish you and yours a blessed and peaceful new year.
Dick
Sen. Richard Blumenthal's E-Mail
It is of the utmost importance that we respond to any of our elected representatives in congress supporting or, opposing their views to keep this issue in the forefront of the legislative agenda. We need to let them know that the NRA is not the representative of a majority of the responsible gun owners in this country and we want meaningful "Gun Control Legislation" passed ASAP!
We need to stress the need for the full text of the 2nd Amendment "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." to be part of any solution passed. Our forefathers wisely placed restrictions on our rights!
We need to stress the importance of background checks on every gun sale, the importance of mental health triggers to cancel the right to purchase or, own guns, stress the importance of proper security of owned guns. We need to let our representatives know that we want ownership of military style weapons with high rates of fire and large capacity magazines to be highly regulated and beyond the purchasing ability of the general public.
Below is the response I wrote to Sen Blumenthal's E-Mail, I ask that you please take the time to write something to your elected representatives today...
Thank You for your letter on Gun Control
I really appreciate your common sense views on Gun Control, we really need meaningful legislation passed that will take military style weapons out of the hands of the general public. The level of gun violence in this country has grown to a level that can no longer be ignored, and the answer is not to have a bunch of George Zimmerman types guarding our schools, churches, colleges, malls, & movie theaters. The NRA has become a right wing lobby group which does not reflect the views of a majority of the gun owners in this country, and they should be ignored unless they can bring relevance into the discussion. The proposals of the NRA are what I consider to be lunacy.
The only time I would possibly support private ownership of a military type assault weapon, would be in a military weapon history type collection or, demonstration collection, where there is special licensing, intensive background checks, stringent security & insurance requirements, and other safety & security requirements, that come into play in order to be allowed to own, transport or, use these guns. Home Protection for the Zombie Apocalypse in my opinion is not a reason to own these weapons, and may signify a mental instability of the applicant, which may demonstrate that they applicant should not be allowed to own any firearms.
We need to stress the fact that the rights afforded to us under the Second Amendment of The Bill Of Rights does not only say, "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." It also says, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state," which clearly does place restrictions on gun ownership. The time has come to regulate our out of control militia!
I fully support your efforts in curtailing the ownership of guns with a high rate of fire and large magazine capacity commonly called assault rifles, which has become the "Weapon of Choice" of so many of the mass murders in recent years. Legislation is clearly an urgent need in this area, and I pray that our congress can come together in a bipartisan common sense and effective effort to combat the proliferation of weapons that have only a military combat use by the general public.