Victims

Yesterday's emails from gun safety groups implored me to watch Gabrielle Giffords' "inspiring" testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  While I understand the use of this adjective as it describes her courage and perseverance, my adjective would be different: "heartbreaking"comes closer to the presentation I watched.  For this once lively, articulate Congresswoman from Arizona could barely read better than the children gunned down last month in Connecticut.

The victims of gun violence in America include many more than those who actually die each year.  Disabilities abound as lives are shattered every day.  Emotional trauma passes from one generation to the next in families destroyed by this scourge.  And communities are torn apart by the dangers of an armed society.

Whenever I'm asked to sign a gun safety petition, I always write in the comment section, "End the madness."  For this is what it is.  Our arrogance and stupidity are breathtaking--that we don't look to other countries as models, that we disregard the views of our police and public safety officers, and that we think the rights of gun owners supersede the safety of the rest of us.

Wayne LaPierre said yesterday that "it's time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children" by installing armed security officers in schools.  How about throwing a blanket around guns instead, keeping them in as few hands as possible with strict regulations?

I for one would feel a lot safer.