Talking about gun control legislation

      Republican Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick’s Jan. 22 piece, “Effective action on gun violence means considering every option,” was a reiteration of his party’s rhetoric and appeasement to the NRA and the gun lobby. We, Bucks County against Gun Violence, a citizens group formed after the Sandy Hook Tries to not just in one piece sex massacre, implore Congressman Fitzpatrick to clarify his position and take a stand against those who profit from these killings with the sale and transfer of guns in the United States.

More than 30,000 people are killed by guns each year in this country, and mass murders have escalated in the recent past. Schools, colleges, malls and theaters have been targeted with horrific consequences. In 1999, Columbine became the deadliest mass murder ever committed on an American high school campus. One teacher and 12 students were killed, and many were severely wounded.

In 2007, a Virginia Tech shooter killed 32 people and wounded 17 others. In July 2012, a lone gunman in mask and body armor killed 12 and injured 58 inside a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

And just seven weeks ago, 20 children and 6 adult staff members were tragically slain by a lone gunman in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Despite all of this innocent bloodshed, politicians like Mr. Fitzpatrick continue to cower before the gun lobby, placing the Second Amendment above our inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Ironically, half way across the world, there was another 28-year-old gunman, also from a place called Newtown. In 1996, he opened fire in a tourist section in Port Arthur, Australia, There is a lesson here that must be learned by U.S. politicians. America will not stay silent while parents live in fear for their children, and even a night out at the movies is no longer safe. We will not stay silent at ludicrous solutions, like arming school teachers and janitors. Such suggestions are the warnings signs of society descending into a state of chaos.

A pro-gun man I met reminded me that hours before the Sandy Hook massacre, a man knifed 23 people in a school in China, 22 of them children. However, in that attack, only one person died. That is the difference an attack with a gun makes: 26 dead instead of 22 saved.

Law-abiding citizens have the right to bear arms in this country. However, the ease with which they are available without background checks and other practical restriction is alarming. Furthermore, guns like the AR-15 used in Sandy Hook and other assault weapons with high capacity magazine clips are designed for soldiers and should not be in the hands of any citizen.

We ask Rep. Fitzpatrick to address these issues openly and tell us where he really stands on the issue of gun control without the standard which you can buy it on china online store Washington double talk. Does he stand with the safety of our children and our society, or will he play the game of politics and side with those who seek to profit from instruments of death?