Wednesday, January 16, 2013

On Guns and Violence, part 2

Here is a letter I sent to my Congressman, Republican Patrick Meehan of the Pennsylvania 7th District:

Dear Mr. Meehan:

As one of your constituents, I urge you to support the agenda to remake our gun laws put forth by President Obama today. Like so many Americans, I have become increasingly horrified by the amount of lives lost in the name of appeasing a few strident voices.  It is clear to me (as it should be to any student of American history) that this kind of unfettered access to weapons of war is not what our founders intended when they drafted the Bill of Rights. 

I work in a public setting, as a librarian; my wife works in a public setting as the associate rector of an Episcopal church, both within your district.  On more then occasion in the last few months I have lain awake at night imagining that we could be next.  All of us that work in public buildings are targets. What are we to do?  Turn our libraries and churches into fortresses, as Wayne LaPierre wishes to do to all our schools?  Does that really make more sense then simply making it harder for potential threats to get their hands on a weapon?

As a voter, I've always prided myself on being an independent, unaffiliated with any party.  Likewise, I've never believed in being a one issue voter.  However, I feel so strongly about this cause, and that ignoring these problems and rejecting these solutions is to be criminally negligent, that I would find it impossible to vote for a representative that would put the welfare of us all behind limiting the rights of a few.

Sincerely,
Kenneth Raining

I urge everyone to contact your Congressman and make sure that your voice is heard as this debate continues.  Find your Congressman at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/