We are 32 families who have lost loved ones in many of the most infamous and deadly mass shootings our nation has ever seen.
We know we are far from alone in our grief. Every day in America, 32 more families lose loved ones to gun murders, most in tragedies that do not make national headlines because they are so common.
We believe we are better than this. And we are calling for a respectful and civil public conversation, focused simply on making this the safer nation we all want and deserve . . .
We are Republicans and Democrats, from “red states” and “blue states.” We live in cities, suburbs, and rural areas. We are from many different walks of life. Some of us own guns. Some of us don’t.
We know that the overwhelming majority of Americans support sensible solutions that would have prevented many of our tragedies, and can prevent many more every day. We are prepared to hold our elected leaders accountable to do everything they can to enact such solutions.
We invite every American who shares our vision of a safer nation to join us, and add your voices to ours, by signing this letter.
Without you, we are a group of families bound by the fact that we have been through something terrible. Together, we can all be the voice of real and lasting change!
Signed,
Jessica Watts, cousin of Jonathan Blunk, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Teresa and Dave Hoover, mother and uncle of Alexander J. “AJ” Boik, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, mother and step-father of Jessica Ghawi, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Jerri Jackson, mother of Matt McQuinn, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Greg and Rena Medek, parents of Micayla “Cayla” Medek, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Anita Busch, cousin of Micayla “Cayla” Medek, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Carol and Tom Teves, parents of Alex Teves, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Robert Wingo, ex-husband of Rebecca Wingo, killed in a movie theater, Aurora, CO, July 20, 2012
Brian and Camella Seymour, children of Judith O. Seymour, killed at Oikos University, Oakland, CA, April 2, 2012
Amardeep and Pardeep Kaleka, sons of Satwant Singh Kaleka, killed at the Sikh Temple, Oak Creek, WI, August 5, 2012
Roxanna Green, mother of Christina-Taylor Green, killed outside of a Safeway store, Tucson, AZ, January 8, 2011
Paula Caouette, Paul Caouette, Katie Caouette, and Cristin Caouette-Gaskil, wife and children of David Caouette, killed at Salon Meritage, Seal Beach, CA, October 12, 2011
Paul Wilson, husband of Christy Lynn Wilson, killed at Salon Meritage, Seal Beach, CA, October 12, 2011
Nardyne Jeffries, mother of Brishell Jones, killed in a drive-by shooting on South Capitol Street, Washington, D.C., March 30, 2010
Eric and Mary Kay Mace, parents of Ryanne Mace, killed at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, February 14, 2008
Carolyn Tuft and Kaitlin, Parker, and Scott Hinckley, mother and siblings of Kirsten Hinckley, killed at Trolley Square Mall, Salt Lake City, UT, February 12, 2007
Uma and Abhi Loganathan, children of G.V. Loganathan, killed at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, April 16, 2007
Peter and Catherine Read, parents of Mary Read, killed at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, April 16, 2007
Joe, Mona, Omar, and Randa Samaha, parents and siblings of Reema Samaha, killed at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, April 16, 2007
Paul and Susan Turner, parents of Maxine Turner, killed at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, April 16, 2007
John Woods, boyfriend of Maxine Turner, killed at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, April 16, 2007
Annette Nance-Holt, mother of Blair Holt, killed on a city bus, Chicago, IL, May 10, 2007
Pamela Bosley, mother of Terrell Bosley, killed outside Lights of Zion Missionary Bible Church, Chicago, IL, April 4, 2006
Tim, Christian, Genevieve, and Jeff Heyne, husband and children of Janice Heyne, killed in a shooting spree, Thousand Oaks, CA, May 30, 2005
Jose Guzman and Guadalupe Sanchez, parents of Guillermo Rodriguez, killed at a Subway, Phoenix, AZ, November 5, 2005
David Cariens, father-in-law of Angela Dales, killed at the Appalachian School of Law, Grundy, VA, January 16, 2002
Nick and Amanda Wilcox, parents of Laura Ligon Wilcox, killed at the Nevada County Behavioral Health Clinic, Grass Valley, CA, January 10, 2001
Suzanne and Casey Glimstad, mother and sister of Derek Glimstad, killed during a shooting spree, Sacramento, CA, September 8, 2001
Tom Mauser, father of Daniel Mauser, killed at Columbine High School, Littleton, CO, April 20, 1999
Sherialyn Byrdsong, wife of Northwestern Basketball Coach, Ricky Byrdsong, killed during a shooting spree, Skokie, IL, July 2, 1999
Paul Ercolino, brother of Steve Ercolino, killed at the Empire State Building, New York City, NY, August 24, 1997
Geraldine Hills, sister of Officer Adam J. Hills, ambushed and killed off-duty, Seney, MI, October 18, 1994
RF quit drinking the Brady Cool-aid this is all crap to make people think banning our rights is ok. Its all crap.
Just because you lost a loved one to murder doesn’t mean you get to put me at an increased risk of losing MY life.
Look at how despicable the other side is, exploiting the broken hearts of these families.
We must fight the gun-prohibitionists today, fight them tomorrow, and fight them forever until they are no more.
Support the gun rights organization(s) of your choice and get in it to win it. No compromise.
+1 id like to c what happened 2me & my baby brother the other day happen 2all those gun haters & let me c what they have to say then, we were at work minding our own business working to pay our bills & taxes so that the many unfortunate ppl living on welfare & section 8 can keep doing , until two guys with guns rob us at gun point basically stripping us bare naked & locking us in the back of our work van behind a cricket wireless while we were trying to fix their furnace in one of Chicago fine ghetto establishments in the early afternoon a bonus there where a ton of ppl outside while watching this happen needless to say if u don’t belong to that hood don’t expect any help from the natives even though your there to help fix the community & pay taxes so they can live & eat it was the worst feeling I ever had to feel helpless with my life in their hands while their community watched everything & looked the other way I guess we looked different so who cares right but had we had our protection on us that day & used it to defend ourselves I’m afraid besides us going to jail bc Illinois & Chicago r full of it we woulda left in body bags that day had we had to have defended ourselves in that hood so to all u political powers put yourself in our shoes & u couldn’t afford to higher armed security to take the bullets 4u? We still feel violated.
LOL wut?
Thank you. I hate that argument with a passion. It has always struck me as blatant emotionalism. We give credence to their opinion solely because they’re “victims”. Not because they’re experts, or experienced, or learned on the subject.
I’m sorry but getting shot or shot at does not make you expert on firearms and related laws any more than getting struck in a crosswalk makes you an expert on cars and traffic laws. If I, or a family member of mine, O.D.s on stolen scripts, then I don’t magically turn into a pharmacist.
This is an excellent point, Derek. It’s this same line of thinking that makes some feel that celebrities’ political opinions are somehow superior to ours, whatever the subject. Memorizing words from a piece of paper for a living does not mean you get to tell anyone else how to live, no matter the subject in question.
It’s downright disgusting how the Brady group swoops right in to take advantage of the fear and sorrow of the bereaved after an event like this.
You might want to change that to ALL gun grabbers
“…sensible solutions that would have prevented many of our tragedies, and can prevent many more every day.” “Less gun violence… safer America”?
I’ve lurked around there site a few times. Maybe it’s time I make some suggestions how they can reach these goals. If they invite me in black and white to help prevent violence, how can I be opposed to offering them them my help?
I’d support them if they propose to eliminate all homicidal maniacs empowerment zone aka “gun free zones”, drop the concealed carry age to eighteen and and pass national reciprocity, otherwise, not one more compromise.
I don’t think I’ll be *supporting* them. But I honestly think I’ll give them some polite advice. They are haveing a big discussion over there and I’m going to interject as much respectful wisdom as I can.
Agree with you except for the reciprocity.
Having the feds get involved in the prelude to a nation “Gun Owner’s ID” is beyond a terrible idea.
My suggestion:
Follow the “Open Carry” lead and start getting rid of all carry regs/permits on a state by state grassroots basis.
I’m all for us keeping our rights but dropping the concealed carry age to 18 should require a fair amount of scrutiny. I was 18 all of 13 years ago and there were way too many stupid boys then that would do really stupid things if they had a gun. I was responsible enough to carry back then but most of my friends weren’t. I guess I would say that those who are in the military could carry at 18 because you have to make sure that they are mature enough to carry somehow that young. I’m all for women carrying at that age though because they are typically more mature (I would love my 6 year old to carry at 18 as the thought of her getting hurt scares the crap out of me. That’s why it’s going to be Brazilian Jujitsu training soon).
A lot of states issue handgun permits to 18 year olds. There is no problem with them.
Well mountocean,
I think the idea of mental health professionals being able to have input or changing a lot of the laws regarding how mental disorders are handled is one thing.
I encourage you to comment. Please share your thoughts and ideas.
If you have lurked around this site you know that we point out bad gun issues as well as good. Along with gun reviews and 2nd amendment issues.
So from me personally welcome to TTAG! I hope you post often and share thoughts, and ideas…..
I am a father of 12. Not all my blood but they are mine. I love them all equally. I want this country to be great, and prosperous beyond my years. We need to fight for that.
Thank you for the welcome, I meant to say I had lurked around the Brady Campaign (and signed up for the above newsletter last night); I’ve been posting on TTAG for a few months now. I will definatly do what I can to keep us informed as I try to gently interject some logic on the other side.
“We know that the overwhelming majority of Americans support sensible solutions that would have prevented many of our tragedies, and can prevent many more every day.”
Of course we do. And by that I mean we need a better mental health system. Mentally ill people should be taken into special consideration by specialists, from elementary school onwards.
I lost my mother to a gun crime 3 years ago, yet I am for the 2A. I know that if she had been armed and trained she would have a chance to be here today. Liberals don’t care about anyones life, they just use these dead people to further their agenda.
That is the only thing they care about.
Dude.. from me to you my prayers are with you man.. Especially during the holiday season.
Just do me one favor…
Remember her for her life, and what she thought you. You know that glimmer in her eye when she said she was proud of you. Or maybe when she beat your butt, because she thought you had done wrong.
Her spirit and love lives through you. Don’t forget that…
Don’t forget to pass on her goodness to your kids either.
G-d bless you man….
Ok I need a tissue now.. no sarcasm.
My condolence. May God bless you.
Leo, I don’t know what to write. God Bless you man.
My heart and prayers are with you Leo!!
God Bless You and remember your Mom is always with you, in your heart, mind and memories.
Carry on the good fight for you, for her memory, and for those yet to come.
Leo:
Your care about your loved one was authentic, but theirs is just part of a political agenda?
In my opinion, the lowest form of political argument is saying that you know your opponent’s motives. It is fine to say that you disagree, it is not fine to say: “They were happy when this shooting happened, because it advances their agenda.” In fact, it is disgusting and pathetic.
You do not get to judge their grief.
I’m in! I want a safer nation. I want to stop the senseless killings. I’m open to a meaningful, calm and reasonable discussion.
Oh, that’s not what you meant? What you meant was “do what we say because we think we know best”?
FOAD.
Exactly.
Yeah. Cool. Whatever. All I get from the Brady Bunch is Blah, Blah, Blah. Oh, by the way, Cheaper Than Dirt is shipping orders again.
Reprehensible, Reptoids with prehensile tails. What a sickening bunch of twisted weirdos the Brady Bunch is!
I think we should start the conversation be eliminating the word “sensible”, which really means ignore decades of work by our countries leading criminologists and enact feel-good legislation. Its hard for people to accept that experiencing a tragedy does not make one an expert on the subject. Just like losing someone to cancer doesn’t make you a doctor, losing someone to gun violence doesn’t mean you have the answers.
This is gonna get ugly.
It’s ALREADY ugly and distorted. It’s REALLY gonna get nasty. There’ll be a million frothing, gun-snatching nitwits. NO WAITING.
One of my more, um, colorful friends commented, with a totally straight face, exactly what he thinks of these folks who have corrupted the meaning of the word “sensible”…
The next person who tells me we need sensible regulations for ANYTHING is gonna get my d*ck in their mouth.
I laughed so hard I was having trouble breathing.
If I died in a shooting and my anti gun sister in law joined the brady bunch I would haunt her ass…
That picture of those little kids being frog-marched is really pissing me off. The second I see it I know it’s attached to some sort of anti-gun propaganda.
Typical.
And every person being exploited by this is in fact trying to make our nation less safe.
I don’t think anything in that letter was wrong, but I suspect the conversation the Brady campaign wants to have is different from the one we want to have.
Wanna stop the gun control arguement?
Just tell the Brady’s about how gun control leads to genocide, call them all genocidal freaks who want everyone who doesn’t agree with them killed violently to create the “perfect” world that only exists in their heads.
I’m going to try a diffent approch. Pass them a teddy bear, give them a hug, then help them *discover* that “gun control leads to genocide”. At least I hope to get a couple sheep to look away from the light.
Nah, just calling them genocidal freaks and explaining to them the tragedies of the Armenian Genocide, Nazi Germany, Stalinist USSR, Rwanda, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, Red China, and Rwanda have in common: Millions were disarmed and murdered by the government.
You nailed it
Some rational punditry on the subject: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-reid-slam-brakes-on-gun-control/article/2516406#.UNH9R6XYdFI
That’s easy… Let School Staff Arm themselves.
I challenge any of you here to go to the Brady campaign website https://www.facebook.com/bradycampaign
and read the comments – don’t get involved, just read. And then tell me if you think there is any room for compromise, reasoned debate or open discussion.
This is what we and the 2nd amendment are up against. Sadly I think we are the ones unarmed in this. You see, force of arms would prove their point and lack of arms would enshrine their point – we lose that debate either way.
You cannot comment and expect it to be up there for more than 5 minutes. I commented there once and it was immediately deleted and I was banned from commenting again. Shows how strong their argument is, when they have to censor the truth in order to gain more sheeple to their cause.
The first thing I read was “Why is Adam Lanza missing from this picture? He also died from gun violence.” I vomited a bit in my mouth, and closed the page.
Actually, he falls into the suicide category, doesn’t he?
Brady is not known for leaving comments up that in any way cast them in anything other than the perfect light. Try editing their wikipedia page – see how long the changes last.
AJ: Wikipedia doesn’t allow anyone’s political opponents to edit their Wili page.
You have to give these people credit, they are masters at playing on the one thing that rules America these days, emotion. Facts and rationale are no longer the currency of America, they’ve been replaced by emotion and “feels good” nonsense.
They are past masters at finding ways to tug on the heart strings. If I didn’t believe in truth and facts I might even be tempted to join their twisted movement.
I am utterly sickened…
I can not and do not see how the loss of life here relates to our inalienable rights. I get it, sure, some sick sub-human did and awful thing. How does this relate to the rest of us who would give our lives for those kids?
The easiest answer comes from of all places our children…
Why wasn’t there someone there to protect them daddy?
Why wasn’t there someone with a gun to shoot them daddy?
Is it really that hard to understand evil will find a way. Make it bombs or guns, or knives, it will find a way.
Why can’t the Fu@cking politicians understand that no amount of legislation will deter evil. Israeli’s understand there is evil in the world, why do Americans think there is some sort of unicorns in the field with fuzzy bunnies utopia????
Not every Israeli loves guns, but they at least realize it is the equalizer in an insane world.
The best solution I’ve come up with is to add a 5% tax to ammo and firearms, then that money would be used to station a police officer at all schools. This way everyone is happy, more or less.
AND, more importantly, it solves the problem of mass shootings on school campus.
It seems to me that the problem we’re having right now is that people seem to think gun control is the only option to stop these kind of problems. It’s not.
Hey, Brady D!ckheads:
ES&D,
Respectfully,
Ralph
P.S.
FU Very Much
Soooo… you’re totally ok with allowing this tragedy to repeat itself by keeping gun free zones.
Every single day gun free zones are not abolished is another 24 hours you’re telling every attention-seeking criminal or maniac, “Today is YOUR chance to become the next reality star courtesy of every network guaranteeing you fame for your spree. Try to outdo the last guy by upping the ante. Step on up!”
That’s the message you’re sending with gun free zones.
I can’t decide if I am more disgusted with the Brady Bunch for sponsoring this or the 32 families that are offering the stories of their dead loved ones to the Brady Bunch for lobbying to deprive their fellow Americans of their 2nd Amendment Rights. Maybe they can only be happy when other families have their children and relatives killed because they were disarmed.
Here’s a thought:
If guns are so evil and such a threat to our society as antis seem to believe, then why did they wait years to try to enact another gun ban? Why did the first one get repealed?
Why were the anti-gun politicians oddly quiet and not calling for a gun ban during the previous 3-4 shootings before the Sandy-Hook massacre? Why did they wait? Were those shootings just not horrendous enough for you to push your agenda? Were people still thinking too clearly so you felt the timing still wasn’t right before you announced your gun control plan?
Only after the Sandy-Hook massacre, when children died, when emotions were running high, and when reasoning and logic were impaired by grief did they choose to call for an “assault weapon” ban. Because they knew that rational and grief-stricken people would not be thinking clearly and see it’s ineffectiveness outright. That’s how insensitive and manipulative the Brady campaign and Feinstein are.
If they really believed what they claim to be believe about firearms, they wouldn’t have waiting a year (or 10) to try to ban “specific” guns. They should’ve been at it every single day if they had any predictions about a tragedy-waiting-to-happen like the Sandy-Hook tragedy. And really, who didn’t see it coming if you know anything about gun free zones.
Fact:
Gun free zones are kill zones to only benefit criminals and the criminally insane. That’s all they are and all they continue to be. How many more shooting do you need to realize this?
We already have tons of DGU incidents and pages and pages of proof that the civilian militia (CCW holders and legal gun owners of America) have stopped crime after crime every single day. They are not police or the military. They are everyday citizens just like everyone else not in uniform. They don’t have an agenda. They just want the option to fight back and live in case someone attacks them using a gun.
How is that any different from what any other citizen wants?
Everyone knows gun free zones don’t work. Because everyone knows that criminals and insane people will not decide to not do evil things if the only resistance are laws that effectively stop the good guys from protecting themselves. The CCW holder that stopped the mall massacre and saved lives was actually breaking the law by carrying. Amazing.
Just in the last few months alone, there have been numerous mall shootings and several theater shootings and still no one in office abolished gun free zones. Can someone explain that to me?
Why weren’t the police posted at all theaters right after that shooting? What’s even more incredible is theaters are still gun free zones today. No security measures have taken place. Cinemark was not held liable for not providing security after it’s patrons were massacred. And they still haven’t done anything to ensure the safety of their patrons. I would call that criminal negligence. Cinemark (and any other theater) is basically saying it’s “ok” for the next whackjob to do a repeat performance and any one of their other locations. Because, obviously, it’s effective. Hundreds of people in a confined, dark space. Easy pickings.
Hey, Brady and Feinstein, instead of trying to get guns out of the hands of lawful citizens, why aren’t you protecting us by doing in the only obvious and logical thing and abolishing gun free zones?
Seriously. Wake up America. Do the obvious thing. Do the right thing. Stop giving the criminals and crazy people in society a target-rich environment by designating kill-zones for them to target and by disarming the good guys.
Funny a Gallop Poll today show only 40% of americans want a new AWB and most want nutty scum locked up in the funny farm first. Obama must be too dumb to realize the polls.
I respect the silence of the NRA during the days following. It takes something even more evil than what happened to stand on the graves of children and push a political agenda and the dismantling of America. I believe this all plays into God’s plan in Revalation. Nothing short of divine intervention can make people this blind to Obama. Or this stupid.
True the end dose not have a USA we just devolve into nothing possibly.
You guys should have seen the brady parade on c-span yesterday. After letting all the families talk Dan Gross came back to the podium and JOKED how they didn’t even need to play Ave Maria in the background.
I hope to God I never meet this man in person, because I believe just being near him would taint your soul.
I don’t waste my time talking to these people. I would much rather spend my time talking to people I know who own guns, but don’t understand the situation in which we now find ourselves. There are lots of them out there, so I’m sure you know some too. You don’t have to nail them down like a proselytizer looking for a conversion, just have a basic conversation to see if they have any real idea what’s going on right now. Many of them won’t. They’ve got lives going on, Christmas is coming, there’s a million and one distractions right now. So rather than wasting your time trying to convince the unconvinceable, save that for later, and right now, work on the undecideds and fence-sitters.
Agreed. People this far gone will just rot your own soul with hatred.
I could only recommend conversing with them on things non-secular. Anything less important then that isn’t worth the damage they cause and fear and hatred they spread.
Yeah Matt, It’s a little rough to get through to these people harder yet to size up their army. Walker weathered a s.itstorm in Wisconsin & when it was all over came out on top. Anti gun is a BIG loser for dems, Wis is proof. I have a lot of hope for the NRA statement, Randy
I agree 100%
The only people committed to a safer nation are responsible, steadfast, independent people. In other words, everyone BUT antis.