Valentine's Day marks the two-month anniversary of the tragic shooting. How to send your love to Newtown

Today is bittersweet. All across America, people are giving their loved ones tokens of their affection. A box of chocolates. A dozen roses. Homemade Valentine cards. And that’s the way Valentine’s Day should be.

Except this Valentine’s Day is different. Today also marks the two-month anniversary of the tragic shooting of 20 innocent school children and six dedicated educators in Newtown, Conn. The grief of these 26 families is unimaginable. Undoubtedly, all Americans send them their love this Valentine’s Day. But love is not enough. We owe these families more than our love and support. We owe them action.


Over the last two months, I have listened to Newtown families, law enforcement, educators, and mental health advocates. From those conversations, a framework for action has emerged. A comprehensive effort to reduce gun violence must include common sense measures to keep guns and ammunition out of the wrong hands, assist our law enforcement officials in enforcing the laws already on the books, reform our broken mental health system and ensure our kids are safe in and out of school.

While politicians may not be united on how to address gun violence, the people of Connecticut and Americans are. Last week, a Quinnipiac poll found that an overwhelming 92 percent of Americans support background checks on guns. A Fox News poll showed that 80 percent support background checks on ammunition. And a recent University of Connecticut/Hartford Courant poll demonstrated broad support within the state for an array of common sense measures to prevent gun violence, including laws to prevent certain individuals with mental illness from purchasing guns, improvements to school safety, universal background checks for gun purchases, and a federal database to keep track of guns in our communities.

With broad public support, a system of background checks on gun and ammunition purchases simply makes sense. Over the last decade, background checks on guns have prohibited 700,000 individuals from purchasing guns- 700,000 felons, domestic abusers, addicts and seriously mentally ill individuals prohibited from purchasing a firearm. Unfortunately, existing laws enable those same individuals to engage in private sales at gun shows or over the Internet, undetected and undeterred. Those same individuals, who are similarly prohibited from purchasing ammunition, can today buy an entire shopping cart of ammunition—unlimited quantities, without any enforcement of existing prohibitions and protections. Even if the store wanted to run an instant background check for ammo purchases, it could not. That makes no sense. This loophole makes ammunition the black hole of gun violence protection, and it must be closed once and for all.

We must take action on ammunition purchases. Last month, I introduced the Ammunition Background Check Act. This bill is simple, but far-reaching in its potential impact. It would require an instant background check for the sale of ammunition. The legislation creates an essential enforcement mechanism where one currently does not exist, and should be a commonsense component of a comprehensive strategy to reduce gun violence.

We must also do more to stop the scourge of illegal gun trafficking in our communities. A bill pending in the Senate would help crack down on the straw purchase of firearms - a practice where an individual with a clean background buys a gun for someone who is prohibited from obtaining one. Closing this loophole would make it a federal crime to purchase a gun with the purpose of transferring it to someone else.

Finally, our mental health system has reached a crisis state and must be reformed as part of any comprehensive gun violence reduction effort. This is a complicated issue, but it cannot be ignored. We must protect privacy rights of individuals while also getting them the help they need. Congress needs to work with mental health advocates to ensure that we are strengthening the system and helping those whose illnesses may lead them to do unspeakable acts.

None of these common sense reforms is easy. But, on this Valentine’s Day, and on every day going forward, we owe it to the families of Newtown and to all families grieving over a loved one lost to gun violence, to have the political courage to act - now.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal is a Democrat from Connecticut.