gun safety

I’m writing this on the tenth anniversary of the Sandy Hook murders. My husband and I were joined by a few friends for an informal outdoor vigil where we lit 26 candles and read aloud the names of the children and teaching staff who died by gunfire at the elementary school in Connecticut. On the first anniversary, more than 100 people joined us in a candlelight vigil where speeches were given and commitments to action were made. Ten years later, children are no safer, and gun deaths are even more of a threat, but there were only five of us gathered.

The candles we lit tonight flickered in the wind and appeared to go out, but as the wind shifted, the flames reappeared, as if by magic, and the light remained. It seemed a fitting symbol of our concern and determination to reduce gun violence and wake up our elected officials to take sensible action to make us safer. As had been said many times, it’s not about taking away people’s guns – it’s about ensuring that guns are only available to people who can handle them responsibly. The analogy to cars is often made. We didn’t ban cars when automobile accidents increased – we worked on auto safety and now we have mandatory seatbelts, airbags, and we require drivers to pass a driving test and to have insurance. To operate larger vehicles like busses or trucks, additional training and certifications are needed. Similar steps have been proposed for guns – require a safety course, conduct a background check, mandate insurance, and restrict access to military-style assault weapons. It seems so sensible, it’s hard to understand the resistance.

In this holiday season, we use candles in many ways, from Hanukkah lights to midnight mass to winter solstice rituals, all representing hope in the darkness of winter. Like the candles in our little vigil tonight, whose flames flickered but did not die out in the ever-shifting winds, so too must our commitment to making change stay strong. Public attention will flicker, and political winds change constantly, it seems. But one thing is clear – societies with fewer guns have fewer gun deaths. It’s not just mass shootings, it’s suicides and gun accidents, often harming or killing children. The only people better off with more guns are the manufacturers and their supply chain. Surely they can find more productive ways to earn a living.

So let’s not let another ten years go by with no action. Let’s not forget all the victims of gun violence, and let’s work to bring long-overdue gun safety regulations.