Family and friends of Christina-Taylor Green lit candles during a private ceremony at the family farm, where she was born
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once observed that "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that." On Sunday, the sad first anniversary of the Tucson shooting, many thousands of Americans joined together to light candles of remembrance and protest against the darkness of gun violence.
They lit candles of remembrance for the six killed in Tucson, including 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. They lit candles of remembrance and hope for the thirteen who were injured but survived, including the courageous Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who summoned the strength to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at a ceremony in Tucson. They lit candles of remembrance for all the gun violence victims in our nation's recent history, over 500,000 murdered with guns since Dr. King fell to an assassin's bullet in 1968.
They lit candles of protest as well. The candlelight vigil campaign, culminating in sixty-eight vigils and related events in twenty-two states and the District of Columbia on a single day, unified under the name TooManyVictims. They sent a single message. Our nation has seen many victims of gun violence. It can no longer be endured. It must stop.
They lit candles from New York City to Chicago to L.A. They lit candles from Duluth to Austin. From Reading to Columbus to Eugene. They lit them in public parks, at courthouses, at city halls, in places of worship, even at barber shops and on street corners.
They lit candles at the National Historic Site honoring the Brown v. Board of Education decision in Topeka, Kansas, where Park Rangers honored one of their own -- Ranger Margaret Anderson, recently killed by gunfire in the line of duty at Mt. Ranier in Washington State.
And the victims' voices were heard. Even those whose lives long ago were cut short by gunfire. Their loved ones stepped forward and told their stories. They told them to those who gathered with candles; they told them to the world through the Brady Campaign's website, www.toomanyvictims.org.
The question is: Are our political leaders listening? Too many of them hear only the intimidating drumbeat of the National Rifle Association and the gun extremists the NRA represents. When a horrible shooting like Tucson happens, too many of our leaders freeze with fear -- not fear for the next innocent victims that may be struck down, but fear of gun lobby political reprisal against any politician who dares to call for sanity in our nation's gun laws.
However "difficult" it is for a politician to stand up to the gun lobby, it is far more difficult for a parent to bury a child, for a sister to bury a brother. Indeed, the fatal shooting of Park Ranger Anderson was a bitter reminder of the human cost of appeasing the gun lobby -- the Coburn Amendment passed two years ago legalizing loaded guns in national parks.
If Dr. King were alive today, he would have led a candlelight vigil against the devastation of gun violence. If more of our political leaders had a fraction of Dr. King's moral courage, countless lives could be saved.
The "Too Many Victims" candlelight vigils were only a beginning. Every American who is tired of cowardly politicians who dance to the NRA drummer should follow the path lit by those candles on Sunday by getting involved. Join committed Americans like Yoko Ono, Beau Bridges, Lewis Black, Plaxico Burress and Kate Walsh, who all spoke out to say there have been too many victims and the killing must stop. Go to www.bradycampaign.org and you'll see how you can join with many thousands of other Americans to seek a safer America.
Dennis Henigan is the Acting President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the author of Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy (Potomac Books 2009).
This item and previous entries also are posted at the Brady Blog.
Paul Barrett: Glock Book Chronicles A History Of America's Gun (PHOTOS)
Rep. Mike Honda: The Anniversary of the Tucson Shooting
Dennis A. Henigan: No Season of Peace from Gun Violence
The nationwide "Too Many Victims" vigils demanded that public officials commit to stopping these needless deaths. We must start with the source of the guns.
http://www.pagunblog.com/2012/01/19/antis-having-it-both-ways/
Brady Campaign loses a lawsuit against an FFL when it blows a filing deadline -- by four minutes.
http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2012/01/a_wonderful_day.php
Probably not; the gun that killed him is "inconvenient".
Your a trip. It's one thing to have differences of opinion on a topic, such as guns; it's another to see you lie to appeal to those less informed. Some examples:
1) Calling a gun magazine an assault clip. There is NO SUCH THING. Making up terms and using scary words like "assault" to appeal to peoples emotions is disingenuous. It's a lie.
2) Stating "Yet the only gun-related legislation to reach a vote in Congress since the Tucson shooting would make it easier for dangerous carriers of concealed weapons, like the Tucson shooter Jared Loughner, to carry their guns across state lines. BIG LIE. You know full well Dennis that AZ is a Constitutional Carry state - Loughner did not have a concealed carry permit and would NOT be allowed to carry legally across state lines as you falsely proposed. Would it even matter in Loughner's case anyway? Shame on you Dennis, this is a blatant lie.
3) Dennis stated "Indeed, the fatal shooting of Park Ranger Anderson was a bitter reminder of the human cost of appeasing the gun lobby -- the Coburn Amendment passed two years ago legalizing loaded guns in national parks". Dennis, Dennis, Dennis. Colton was already a fugitive before even heading to the National Park. He had shot 4 people the day before. He was running from the law. Implying that the legalization of guns in National Parks contributed to this tragedy is also, very disingenuous.
You should consider a career change Dennis.
Then again, today most used car sales people are quite honest because a lot of people are much more educated about cars and car values than years ago. Dennis can learn something from that himself.
The Coburn Amendment did not explicitly "legalize" the possession of loaded firearms within National Park lands. Rather, the Amendment prohibits enforcement of the prohibition of firearms within such locations -- which remains law -- against individuals who are in lawful possession of the firearm and, importantly, who are not in violation of any relevant state law regarding the possession of firearms.
The relevant text of the law is
Mr. Benjamin Colton Barnes used a loaded shotgun to kill Park Ranger Margaret Anderson, doing so immediately after exiting a motor vehicle. Washington state law prohibits the transportation of any loaded "long gun" within a motor vehicle by civilians. Because Mr. Barnes was traveling with a loaded long gun in his motor vehicle, Mr. Barnes was demonstrably in violation of state law. Because of his lack of compliance with state law regarding the possession of a firearm, federal law prohibiting the possession of firearms within a National Park was also enforceable against him as established by the text of Senator Coburn's amendment.
Mr. Barnes's possession of a firearm within a National Park territory violated state and federal law even with the text of Senator Coburn's amendment as law.
So you actually believe that if it were illegal to carry a loaded gun into the park, the fugitive on the run for murder wouldn't have brought it in?
I would like to hear Henigan actually say that. In those words, not his abstract dance-around-the-issue wording.
1) A person with a lit candle,
2) A person with a legal concealed handgun
It's not rocket science folks.
The community group that puts together a charter school for their disadvantaged and ignored youth has done more to ease gun violence in this nation than any gun control group will ever do.