More than 126,000 outraged Daily News readers have united their voices to deliver a simple message: Enough is enough.
The concerned people ? now totaling 126,952 from all 50 states ? signed The News? petition in the wake of the deadly Newtown, Conn., school shooting rampage to demand lawmakers finally toughen gun control laws.
?
?
They want to be heard, from Albany to Washington. They want assault weapons banned. They want high-capacity magazines outlawed.
?
And they want it now!
?
?
?Stop the murderers, Congress, or you are complicit!? Diane Wiener, of Ozone Park Park, Queens, wrote on The News? online petition form.
?
?Right NOW, President and Congress!? added Ethan Odin of Fairfield, Conn.
?I have lost family and friends to gun violence,? wrote Juan Coleman, of Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn. ?Thank you for doing something.?
?
For many, the horror that engulfed a tiny, picturesque New England town was the final straw. On Dec. 14 ? exactly one month ago ? 20-year-old Adam Lanza burst into Sandy Hook Elementary School brandishing a Bushmaster XM-15, a 10-mm. Glock handgun and a 9-mm. SIG Sauer handgun.
?
He stalked the halls, shooting anyone in his path. He coldly walked into classrooms, places of enrichment and learning, and transformed them into killing fields.
?
He opened fire on innocent young children and veteran teachers, all of whom never stood a chance. By the time he turned the gun on himself, 20 students and six adults were dead.
?
A nation?s heart broke.
?
?My heart bleeds for these little angels, I love them all like they were my own,? wrote Sharon Holder of East New York, Brooklyn. ?I cry every time I watch the news and I can?t take it anymore.?
?
?Something has to be done,? she added.
?
Out of the mourning came a vow to act.
?
A groundswell of support emerged to tighten the laws and change the culture that led to gun tragedies that have come to define previously innocent places: Columbine. Virginia Tech. Aurora. And now Newtown.
?
The News heard the anger and urged its readers to make their feelings known. A petition was placed in the newspaper and on The News? website, highlighting the sobering fact that 34 Americans are killed by guns each day.
?
?Blood on Your Hands,? read the already iconic News front page, which displayed the U.S. Capitol covered in the all-too-easily spilled life-giving fluid. The petition urged readers to call on Congress to ?immediately ban all assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and institute comprehensive gun control.?
The response was immediate.
?
More than 93,400 signed the online petition while another 31,600 signed and mailed the printed coupons.
?This is a phenomenal response from the Daily News audience. They have made their position very clear ? they want politicians to act now and they want their voice to be heard,? said Daily News Editor-in-Chief Colin Myler.
?
?
Michelle Irons, an MTA bus driver, passed out copies of the petition at her Brooklyn depot.
?
?As a bus operator, I?m on the streets usually during the wee hours of the morning and often hear gunfire,? she wrote. ?We are sometimes witness to senseless violence.?
?
?The petition gives us who want to have a say some empowerment,? wrote Magda Santiago of the Bronx. ?The issue of keeping our community safe affects us all.?
?
The readers? words resonated with those whose lives were touched by a gun tragedy.
?
Stephen Barton, 23, was biking cross-country from Connecticut when he stopped in Aurora, Colo., to visit a friend last July 20. They decided to see a midnight showing of ?The Dark Knight Rises.?
?
?I saw the firing at the front of the theater I thought it was fireworks,? said Barton. ?But then I saw the flashing and saw the gun. I put my arm to block my body but I was hit.?
?
Bleeding from the face, neck and arm, Barton collapsed to the theater floor but stayed conscious. When James Holmes? Smith & Wesson M&P15 semiautomatic jammed, Barton was able to crawl out of the theater to safety.
?
?
He applauded The News? efforts to ban assault weapons despite the pleas from gun advocates that such a law would infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
?
?I am not surprised you have heard such a response ? people want to voice their frustrations,? Barton said. ?These weapons have no sporting or self-defense purpose. It?s a small, insignificant price to pay ? eliminate those weapons for increased public safety.?
?
Lori Haas? daughter Emily was a sophomore at Virginia Tech in 2007 and was attending French class the morning of April 16.
?
Seung-Hui Cho walked in, two automatic handguns drawn. He pulled the trigger ? and just kept shooting.
?The bullet went across the nape of her neck, right next to her brain stem,? said Lori Haas. ?Another half-inch and she wouldn?t be here.?
?
The mass shooting ? which claimed the lives of 32 people ? spurred the usual cycle of response: shock, sadness and outrage. But little changed, as any effort to strengthen gun legislation was squashed by the powerful National Rifle Association and its allies.
?
This time, Haas believes, things are different.
?
?I feel a real sense of commitment from some people,? she said. ?We?re not going to let this go until it happens and there?s real expatiating this time.
?
?The calculus has changed,? she said. ?The status quo is unacceptable.?
?
Washington may finally be poised to act. President Obama was shaken by the Newtown shooting and commissioned a guns task force, led by Vice President Biden, which will unveil its findings Tuesday.
Resistance from the NRA and some Republican lawmakers will be fierce, but there is hope that that some meaningful legislation will pass ? in part because of public pressure.
?
?The petition shows how broad and deep the support is to having real gun control legislation,? said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). ?This is not a small number of people ? this is an overwhelming response.?
?
Closer to home, action is imminent. Gov. Cuomo devoted a portion of his State of the State address last week to call for an assault weapons ban that would give New York the nation?s toughest gun laws. A deal may be voted on this week.
?
?Too many lives have been taken, too many families have been ripped apart and far too much tragedy has been visited upon our communities by senseless gun violence,? said Cuomo.
?
And the husband of one of the nation?s highest-profile shooting victims also added his voice to the call for sanity.
?
?In the two years since Gabby was shot, there have been 12 more mass shootings,? said Mark Kelly, whose wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in Tucson, Ariz., in 2011.
?
?Americans from every state, race, age and gender will need to engage their elected leaders in a conversation about this issue. Petitions like this show that our country is ready for responsible solutions to address this problem.
Click for video
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nydnrss/new-york/~3/fAujwzBLbtY/story01.htm
billy joel bent new york jets etch a sketch romney sean payton saints bounty program toulouse france
No comments:
Post a Comment