I follow Little Cuter's advice. I keep a low profile around the issue of sensible gun legislation.
I write to you, I've got a button on my purse, I post on Facebook and Twitter, but only those who are connected to me are in that loop. To the outside world, Pam Simon and Pat Maisch and Roxanna Green are the faces of January 8th, and that's just fine with me.
As Little Cuter's wisdom continues, there are crazy people on the other side of this issue... .and they have guns!
It's a hard space to occupy, this niche between having something to say and keeping myself safe. Although I laugh about feeling like the safest person on the planet (after all, what's the likelihood of some other disaster befalling one short Jewish girl from New York?), I cannot discount my child's discontent.... because what was the likelihood that I'd encounter bullets in front of a grocery store on that sunny Saturday morning?
I lend my presence when I am feeling brave. I spoke at the No More Names Bus Tour at Christina-Taylor's church and at the Safeway when Gabby and Mark announced the formation of Americans for Responsible Solutions . I didn't testify before Congress and a gaggle of news cameras, and I didn't take a front and center spot at any number of other, more publicized events. I felt an equal mix of guilt and relief each time.
I wish I were brave enough to put myself out there. I wish I didn't carry the sorrow and the newly-ripped-off-bandaid feeling on my heart every time I tell the story in public. I wish, I wish, but I have my own reality and, after three years, it's more comfortable than it used to be. I'm able to attend but stay out of the limelight, to show my support without making that support a matter for strangers to judge.
This morning allowed me to be wallpaper at an event announcing the creation of Everytown.org, the marriage of Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action. It's a perfect combination of money and savvy and enthusiasm and numbers, and it promises to be a loud and well funded voice in opposition to Washington Gun Interests which is, I am sure, a fully tested slogan. Pam Simon and Jocelyn Straus and Gabby's rabbi, Stephanie Aron, took the podium, along with others, some of them gun owners who love the sport of shooting, all of whom want sensible federal and local legislation regarding the purchase of weaponry.
It was sunny and hot and the cameras were everywhere. The microphones were nestled on the dais, leaving just enough room for the speeches to rest. Several reporters recognized and greeted me and wanted to talk after the event; they were gracious when I declined.
I have nothing new to say. I have no hope that I can change anyone's mind on the subject. I can change those who are in office, and I am supporting candidates who share my views on the necessity for legislation to regulate the proliferation of dangerous weapons and who are interested in increasing access to mental health treatment for those in need. I don't need to retell the story of watching the light go out of a little girl's eyes; at this point it's shock value and of no use to me at all.
I'd much rather share Christina's love of life, of family, of America ... and I'm doing that. GRIN leaves me with a full heart, rather than an achy one. I am making a difference, and I don't have to wait to see the results. They are not dependent on changing intransigent minds. My rewards are built into my actions... which, now that I think about it, is the perfect segue to ask you to click on over to Everytown's home page and sign your name. The reward is built into the action.
Plus, if you sign up on the homepage, you'll be redirected to a picture of me holding a flag that Amster made for the bus tour last summer. I admit to a moment of flabbergasted astonishment when I showed up on my monitor. Everytown called yesterday and asked permission to use the photo, but I didn't know that it was going to be given such prominence.
My name is not attached to the picture. I'm just a 60-something woman with well-polished nails holding a paper American flag. That's the kind of anonymity-cum-making-a-statement that appeals to me.
I read about this movement and it's also coming to Oregon. I want to know more about what they want regarding guns before i sign on. Bloomberg went too far in NYC with some of his proposals like the soft drink ones. When I know if this is the kind of gun control I do support, then I'll be happy to sign on. As I understand he's going to go after any politician in any of our states where they don't go for whatever he wants. So I could lose someone like Merkley if he didn't go far enough on this issue (that could cost us a Democratic senator here if they divide the party over this). I want to know what far enough ends up being. What I read so far seems pretty vague on details. I like that he's putting his $50 million into being the anti NRA but the anti NRA might be as far out there for me as the NRA is.
ReplyDeleteOn your involvement, you lost more in that event than most who got shot or even were killed. You had the wounds but also the emotional pain of being right there when a beloved child was killed for no logical reason anybody could ever figure out. That's PTSD on steroids. Don't judge yourself or compare yourself to what someone else can do.
"Don't judge yourself or compare yourself to what someone else can do. "
DeleteWise words. Words I can live by. Words that come from you, a "respected source"!
I will try to get you information on "how far they will go".... stay tuned :)
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http://www.today.com/video/today/54964829#54964829 Start at 2:50... or, for the recap, go to 6:50 to hear Bloomberg and Shannon Watts (of Moms Demand Action) talk about "the plan"
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/us/bloomberg-plans-a-50-million-challenge-to-the-nra.html?ref=michaelrbloomberg&_r=2
DeleteVerbiage if you prefer it to live humans.
Rain, I heard from Ann Wright who is working with MAIG. Here's her response to "what are they going for?" --
DeleteHere is the action page on our new website: http://everytown.org/act/. One of our priorities moving forward will be to close the so called "intensity gap", by creating a base of voters who vote for elected officials who support common sense gun laws.
Hope that helps.
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You know how important this is to me and my part in it. You are a friend and I know where you stand--beside all of us moms fighting the proliferation of guns in our society. The video that was put out yesterday had my heart racing. It's so scary and I need to ask that question whenever my children go over to someone's home. Is there a gun in the house and is it secured? I will not let my children become a statistic. And I wholeheartedly agree with what Bloomberg is doing. He puts his money where his mouth is.
ReplyDeleteSending much love and hugs!
Megan xxx
Bloomberg is as heroic he needs to be right now :)
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I watched the video. We will see. The bad part is not all the guns in the violence have been illegal. The Sandy Hook shooting had guns bought by his mother legally. I still think mental health is a big part of this but do also support regulation of who can buy or own a gun. It would not have stopped Sandy Hook but I think could have the Tucson shooting. We are though in a time where half the country totally sees all these issues exactly the opposite for any control. Just hearing about the recent Nevada rancher issue where the militia types showed up with their guns is a good example of the problem we face. This will be interesting to see how it plays out.
ReplyDeleteTucson was preventable in so many ways... it makes me nuts to think about it. No attention paid to his escalating mental health crisis by his parents, Dad providing money so he could purchase the very expensive gun he used, no coordination between his rejection by the military for mental health reasons, salespeople who provided bullets to "an obviously disturbed person" (as the Walmart gun counter manager described the shooter while telling me why HE had refused to sell him bullets ). I'm not interested in government intrusion into my life (regulating my reproductive system, eg) but something has to be done. As you say, it will be interesting.
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The mother in Sandy Hook killer needed to be more informed about mental illness. She enabled him and paid with her life. I think mental illness needs to be taken out of the dark ages. With the warnings about the Tucson killer, that could definitely been prevented. The balls were dropped and it happens again and again to the result of one tragedy after another ;(
DeleteI will never understand the mental processes that would lead someone living in a house with a deranged person to house weaponry in that same house --- Tucson, Newtown.... preventable tragedies if we talked about mental health with the same ease with which we talk about Viagra......
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