Ashamed

April 18, 2013

“Shame on you!” Wholeheartedly I agree with the woman in the Senate chamber who chastised those that voted to continue to help criminals, terrorists, gang members and dangerously mentally ill persons continue to get their hands on guns. The cowardly men and women, who put their interests above those of the people by whom they were entrusted to work, need to hear these words repeatedly spoken.

The bill rejected yesterday was a common sense bill. It was a simple and constructive way to protect the people of these United States.  The bill was a simple way to protect the most precious amongst us, our children. Yes, an approach which considers other factors which create gun violence should be addressed, but we need this bottom line. The Manchin-Toomey Bill was nearly the least of what is needed, in regards to guns, to make the neighborhoods we inhabit safer. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, the people of our country demanded change. After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, even those that are staunch supporters of the 2nd Amendment, those who are card-carrying NRA members, some of those who were previously against any form of gun control legislation stood behind this minimalist bill.

This bill did not include a restriction on magazine clips. This bill did not address the problem of assault weapons in the hands of civilians. This bill was a barebones piece of legislation that should have been easy to pass. It was made complicated by the pockets of the NRA lobbyists. It was made complicated by a busy political week and impending votes on other legislative interests. This bill should have had none of such interference. Our, our politicians should have focused on what they claim to be foremost on their minds, the desires of the people, the safety the public so desperately wants. Instead, for most in the Senate, the amazingly high percentage of people who saw this bill as something needed were ignored. Their lives would have been more safe. There are people and children that will not live out there lives because this bill died on the Senate floor. They might as well have laid bodies on that floor.

I am ashamed. I am worried. I am angry that we live in a country where most of our elected officials in the Senate value life less than gun rights and their own careers. I feel as Joe Biden did in the photo shot of him when Obama expressed his outrage yesterday, April 17th, 2013, with his head down and his disappointed face covered by his hand. It was a sad day in America. It was a devastating day for those that have experienced the horror of gun violence. It will be for some that will die as a result of the shameful vote of yesterday.

I am hopeful the more courageous of Senators and the citizens which desired the Manchin-Toomey Bill to pass will continue the push for desperately needed changes in our gun laws. I want to be hopeful that bravery and common sense win out over cowardice.