America's current gun control challenge is not about eliminating personal gun ownership in direct violation of our Second Amendment right to bear arms. It is about creating a sane gun policy that provides a safe environment for all Americans, not just the wealthy who can afford to live in walled-off communities with armed guards and security cameras.



A sane gun policy will retain the right of the individual to have a gun for personal protection, for sport, and even for collecting, but it would ban the rapid-fire assault rifles and add-on clips that provide almost any person with a weapon of mass destruction. Mandatory background checks at all venues where guns are sold, a 30-day waiting period, and a national database for gun ownership are needed too.

Americans are weary of two decades of news stories of ordinary places where people congregate becoming nothing more than killing fields, because a single individual with an assault weapon goes on a killing spree lasting only a few minutes. How many more innocent people will die, leaving behind families and communities reeling in grief?

Our hearts feel the pain, and our voices must cry out to stop this insanity from becoming a commonplace occurrence. Blood is flowing in our streets, schools, shopping malls, and military bases, but everyone is going on with their lives as if nothing is wrong, as if it will never happen again. Denial!

We're weary of politicians who proclaim they'll enact gun control legislation to prevent similar tragic events from happening again, but what legislation is ever agreed upon or signed into law? It's just the same hot air producing little more than promises.

The NRA, gun manufacturers, and crazed gun enthusiasts subvert our safety and sense of security. We're now living in a cruel world where mean streets, drive-by shootings, gang warfare, drug peddlers, the mentally deranged, political extremists, and lone wolves have the upper hand. So do our politicians who are sitting on their hands.

It's time to send our Congressional representatives a loud and clear message that we're not tolerating this nonsense anymore. Stand up and be heard. Contact your representatives and tell them to work for a sane gun policy for a safe America. Do it now before the killing spree terrorizes your community.

Find your Congressional representatives at the easy-to-use website Congress Merge (www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb), and track their individual record at GovTrack.us (www.govtrack.us/congress/members). Spare one hour and reach both of your U.S. senators and the representative from your district. That's all it takes to impact our leaders by voicing your concerns and telling them that you want GUN CONTROL . . . and you want it NOW!