Survivors

In the midst of an otherwise stirring and inspiring convention, I found one moment unspeakably sad: when Gabrielle Giffords, the former Congresswoman from Tucson, led attendees in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  If you didn't see it, you can click here for a video replay; however, you may not wish to.  For you will be reminded of the painful fallout from gun violence.  Ms. Giffords, once a leader and thinker in her community, struggles like a child to get through her performance.

Perhaps not coincidentally, The Washington Post ran an article on Saturday about D.C. survivors of gun violence.  These are the lesser well-known, largely African-American men confined to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives.  In the support group they attend, they may learn from each other what it means to survive: "How a good day now might mean opening a soda bottle without help, or dialing a phone number on the first try, or putting a gun to [their heads] and not pulling the trigger."

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said in his speech on the convention's opening night, "It's time for Democrats to stiffen our backbone and stand up for what we believe."  He may not have been talking about gun violence, but I am.  While I'll reluctantly accept that it may be political suicide to tackle this problem in the midst of a presidential campaign, I won't accept silence from Democrats once re-elected.

Our party's platform states that "We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements--like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole--so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few."

Is it too much to ask our elected officials to follow through?  I don't think so.