What Price Is a Child?

By the time today ends 7 children will have been shot to death here in the U.S. Maybe on purpose. Maybe through negligence. Maybe by accident. Maybe by a random bullet meant for someone else. However it happens, a child ends up dead. A family ends up destroyed.

What sort of price tag do we attach to each of those kids? The cost of a bullet? The cost of the gun that fired the bullet? The cost of a complete background check? The cost of asking before a play date if there's a gun in the house? Is it secure? Is it safely out the reach of our kids?

I think most of us would say a child's life is priceless. Yet members of Congress seem to have a much smaller figure in mind. It's not an exact figure but Senators and House members have given us a pretty good idea what it is.

The current base salary for the rank-and-file members of the both houses is $174,000 a year. Plus bennies. Then let's add to that what the NRA spread around last year including direct contributions to Senators, Congressmen/women and lobbying monies: over 4 million dollars.

I don't know about you, but even those sizable figures look pretty puny when measured alongside the giggles, games, songs and unconditional love our kids' lives add to each of ours. And then the unfathomable loss when those tiny lives are snuffed out.

I also have no idea what the NRA and Congress think my daughter's life is worth. But I think we could all agree it would cost me everything if I take a bullet to save her. And I would gladly pay that price. I would pay the same price for my step-son. In fact I would like to think if I could save any child by taking a bullet, I'd go for it. But this isn't about me.

This is about you, the men and women of the Senate and House of Representatives. You don't need to take a bullet. You need to take a stand. Because there are those among you who apparently value your $174,000 seat and the money your get from the NRA more than the life of a child. Because if you truly valued a child's life, you'd stop taking the NRA's money and whatever other perks the gun industry as a whole throws at you. You'd stop taking it and stand up and say, "Enough."

You'd be so sickened by the gun violence that takes so many of our children you'd pass common sense gun laws to protect our children. But it seems to you, this is not about saving lives. It's a game about money and madness, greed and gutlessness.

Check out this financial figure: grieving parents cost the U.S. economy around 225 billion dollars due to reduced productivity. Now there's a financial incentive to do something since you're looking to help businesses. Or is it just the business of guns?

But I have a feeling it works more like this:

Game Show Announcer: So what'll be Congressman? The money or the child?

NRA: The money! The money! The money!

Moms and Dads: The child. The child. The child.

Congressman: I'll take the money!!!!!

NRA: (Thunderous applause and cheers)

Moms and Dads: (Uncontrollable sobbing and crying)

To quote John Steinbeck, "Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power." It also kills our children.

So Congressman, Congresswoman, Senator -- What will it take? How much do you have to lose? A child or grandchild of your own? I truly, truly hope not. So I ask you again.

What will need to happen to you, Senator, and you, Congressman and Congresswoman, for you to take a meaningful stand to save our children from gun violence? Sure you might lose the next election. In which case you can go back to being a lawyer, a doctor, a businessperson, whatever you used to be. Then again you might not lose. Because a large majority of Americans, even gun owners favor stricter, stronger, tighter, safer gun policies.

Even you do lose, you'd lose knowing there's no more blood on your hands. And you can sleep easily without the faces of our dead children haunting your dreams.

So sleep tight, Congress. Then get up in the morning and do something to save our kids. And yours.