In
recent years, there have been several shootings across the nation, where
innocent lives were lost at the hands of deranged individuals whose easy access
to assault weapons has caused mass destruction. This is a problem that plagues
every community in our nation and one that can no longer be ignored by elected
officials at the national and state levels. Those of us who serve at the local
level must lend our voices to the debate about the solution that is needed.
Elected
officials can no longer stand on the sidelines and watch as innocent men, women
and children are slaughtered in our nation's classrooms, movie theaters, malls,
and on our streets. We must act, and we must act with the urgency that is
required, using a common sense approach that the crisis demands. Our state and
national elected officials must move with deliberate speed to enact very tough
gun control legislation to limit access to assault weapons and to remove the
deadly threat that looms large over every city in the nation. Deadly assault
weapons must be removed from our communities and out of the hands of
individuals who could at any time unleash a reign of terror upon the innocent.
This unfortunate but preventable scene has been played out far too many times
in America's cities.
Now
is the time for action; now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to come
together to make our communities safe; now is the time for all elected
officials to do what's right and not what is merely expedient.
I am a firm believer in the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution, and I do believe in the Second Amendment. However, I do not believe that the right to bear arms gives gun manufacturers free reign to produce weapons of mass destruction that would then be available to the general public. I do not believe the Second Amendment should give individuals the right to purchase and/or these deadly weapons. The right to bear arms must be respected and protected, but it cannot, and must not, supersede our human right to public safety.
Regards,
Adrian
