A Plea for Child Safety, From the Heart of a Mom

Like any loving mother, when my children were frightened I used to hug them and assure them that I would keep them safe.

On Aug. 10, 1999, my words became an empty promise when a gunman with a semiautomatic weapon walked into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and began shooting.

It was over in an instant, an instant that changed so many lives. Five people were shot including my own precious 6-year-old son. My innocent, sweet-faced little boy was shot while he was playing with his friends at camp.

Out of that instant the Million Mom March was born. Across the country the message of the Million Mom March is clear and simple: Congress must enact common-sense gun safety legislation. That’s it. Common-sense safety measures. These include licensing and registration of handguns, safety locks, background checks and waiting periods.

We have many common-sense safety measures to protect children. We protect them with bicycle helmets, car seats, childproof caps on medicine bottles and by removing the drawstrings from their jacket hoods. We have sensible safety measures to protect children from hazards that are far less lethal than a gun and for incidents that occur less frequently than gun deaths or injuries. So it doesn’t make sense that we don’t have common-sense gun safety laws.

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Before last summer, I was concerned about gun violence in our society. I would shake my head in dismay when I learned of the latest tragedy involving firearms, but what could I do? I was just a mom. I believed that I could leave the solution to someone else. I believed our Congress would do the right thing. They would solve this problem.

Now I know better, as do millions of concerned mothers and others across the country. We are the solution. For too many years, we were part of the problem because of our failure to act on the need for common-sense gun safety legislation, but that is over now.

We are a grass-roots movement of strong-willed, resourceful, concerned mothers and “honorary mothers.” We are all ages, all races, all political affiliations, all religions, gun owners and non-gun owners, rich and poor, parents and non-parents.

Today, we are gathering in Washington, D.C., and across the country to say enough is enough. We cannot and will not tolerate the gun deaths of 12 children each day.

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In the nine months since Donna Dees-Thomases in New Jersey conceived the Million Mom March after the shooting at the Jewish Community Center, women across the country have worked tirelessly and passionately to promote the mission of the march.

Many of the women have experienced the unthinkable tragedy of losing a child to gun violence. I have talked with some of these mothers and have heard their heartbreaking stories of tragic accidents, homicides and suicides. Often, they carry a picture of the child they buried. Some speak bravely, and others speak tearfully about the pain they feel and the sense of loss from which they will never be free. But they all speak with resolve that theirs is a pain that no one should have to endure. How can anyone hear their stories and not support the need for common-sense gun safety legislation?

We are not reactionary, and we are not extreme, but we are passionate about our children. I have heard the argument about the right to bear arms. What about the right of children to live in safety? I have heard the argument that laws will only affect law-abiding citizens. The same can be said of all laws. In a utopian society, we wouldn’t need laws, but this isn’t a utopian society and we need laws. I’ve heard the argument that licensing and registration would not have saved the life of the first-grader in Michigan shot by a classmate. Common-sense gun safety measures can’t prevent all gun tragedies, but they may have prevented a madman from taking innocence away from my son and the children at the Jewish Community Center last summer.

On this Mother’s Day, my family and I are in Washington to support the mission of the Million Mom March. Maybe next Mother’s Day we’ll have a quiet brunch with champagne and flowers. This Mother’s Day, I can’t think of a better way to demonstrate my commitment to my children, to all our children and their future, and to honor my mother than to be a part of this historic event with a million like-minded people.

Together we can make a difference.