As I mentioned in my first post, “Two Weeks a Politician,” I have been seeking advice from all quarters. Several experienced candidates told me to be ready for any question, even if the best answer I can give is “I can only speak to what I know, I’ll get back to you on that.”
They also counseled me to prepare for current events to control the topic of conversation from time to time. Two weeks to the day I became a candidate for public office, a mass shooting with 17 fatalities turned our attention once more to the seemingly interminable crisis of gun violence in our nation — again on an unimaginable scale right here in my home state.
Two days after the massacre, a student at my sons’ high school made hoax threats not long after another student was arrested at a different high school in our county for doing the same. My 17 year old son sent me a chilling text mid-morning that said, “Satty kid made a shooting threat. Didn’t come to school today. Parents phones going to voice mail. Police en route to his home. Half my classes empty.”
My husband and I attended his younger brother’s jazz band Musical Performance Assessment a few hours later and marveled at how easy it was to get into the school’s theater. As I took my seat, I found myself checking the exits in the auditorium and feeling a pit of fear in my stomach that a group of twenty musicians on stage were essentially trapped targets if someone with weapons capable of firing multiple rounds in seconds chose that moment to do so.
I graduated high school in 1986. I never once thought of being shot while at school. Not once. My children think of it daily.
I am the President of the Board of Directors of a soccer club that competed in President’s Day Weekend tournaments throughout the state. One of our U15 Girls squads played Wellington, a regional competitor with Parkland FC. The girls from both squads chose to honor Parkland FC player, Alyssa Alhadeff, 14 who lost her life on Wednesday by wearing her jersey number on wrist bands and beginning their game with a moment of silence. One of our U14 Boys team requested to form a tunnel walkout for their competitors when they faced off against Parkland FC this morning in respect. While I am proud of these young athletes for exhibiting such remarkable compassion and sportsmanship, my heart breaks that they are in the position to consider doing so at all.
Needless to say, conversation around the family dinner table on Thursday, at a progressive caucus on Friday evening, a library petition drive on Saturday, and a block party Meet and Greet on Sunday all turned to addressing the issue. With progressives struggling among themselves to find the answer, reaching across the aisle seems virtually impossible. In reality, it will take more than a single law to deal with this epidemic, and it will require Democrats and Republicans — progressives and conservatives — to find common ground.
The solution may very well lie in rejecting some of the earliest advice I received as a candidate. A well-meaning experienced politician told me I did not have to respond to every questionnaire interest groups send me. With one exception — the NRA. I absolutely had to respond to that one. I was further counseled to take care when responding to ensure I did not get an F rating.
I have a profound problem with this. I am torn between ignoring the questionnaire when I receive it or answering truthfully and owning the inevitable F rating proudly.
The National Rifle Association no longer seems to represent the interest of gun owners like my father. Given their official reactions to mass shootings like Parkland, I question exactly whom or what the NRA represents. Every gun owner I know personally favors legislation that ensures safe well-regulated gun ownership. They understand fully that the Second Amendment, like the First Amendment (can’t scream “fire!” in a crowded movie house), must have limits if our nation is to “insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”
Do we truly promote the general welfare when we fail to take reasonable gun control measures? What about the blessings of liberty to their posterity?
Alyssa Alhadeff
Martin Duque Anguiano
Scott Beigel
Nicholas Dworet
Aaron Feis
Jamie Guttenberg
Chris Hixon
Luke Hoyer
Cara Loughran
Joaquin Oliver
Gina Montalto
Alaina Petty
Meadow Pollack
Helena Ramsay
Alex Schachter
Carmen Schentrup
Peter Wang
Do not doubt we have the means to affect change and save lives. We absolutely do. Now let us show our nation and the world we have the will. I am encouraged by the voices and actions of students following this tragedy. When I pledged to listen to all advice, I truly meant it. Perhaps we should allow the children to lead us.
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