I had hoped that our political leaders would put saving innocent lives ahead of their careers, if necessary sacrificing their own political ambitions to get this done. But our politicians have proved unwilling to take up the cause or to take risks for the sake of the many citizens, young and old, murdered both before and after Sandy Hook. Would you gather the courage if it were your son or daughter whose life had been taken?

In the years I served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I sat with far too many mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of loved ones killed in combat, the best of us, who had made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country. I hoped—hopelessly—that I could somehow ease their unimaginable pain and suffering. The haunting, empty, tragic stares of these grieving families will live with me forever.

After Sandy Hook, I watched in abject disgust while our Congress did nothing, despite the fact that some 90 percent of Americans supported universal background checks. That inaction typified the paralysis and division consistently displayed by elected officials from both parties. Each party could display the same motto: “Party before country.”

Since Sandy Hook, the politics have gotten worse and the weapons have become more deadly. And we are led by an administration without a moral compass, which seeks to divide us and destroy our values: equality, freedom, democracy, human rights, integrity, responsibility, accountability. These attacks threaten the very underpinnings of our civilization.

Now is the time for courage. We must take steps to make our country and its citizens safe from this growing national-security threat by banning these assault weapons with their large magazines, and by putting in place comprehensive and universal background checks without loopholes. The United States accounts for some 4 percent of the global population but holds about 45 percent of the civilian firearms in the world. We are way out of balance.

I have been involved in the use of arms for my entire adult life. I understand what they can do. It is time to act. If we do nothing, many more innocent lives will be needlessly sacrificed—and the blood of those innocents will continue to flow upon our hands.

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