What Do We Tell Our Children? – Message From the CEO
February 15, 2018Once again, we are faced by the news of a school shooting. This time there are 17 dead, 14 injured, and hundreds more who experienced the horror of an active shooter in their school building. Families are grieving, a community is in shock, and our children are traumatized.
How will we respond? Of course, the families of those who were shot have our thoughts and prayers. But, that is not enough. Not nearly enough. We can and should invest more public funds in mental health training, school security precautions, and disaster specific training. But, that is not enough. Not nearly enough.
There is no cogent argument for why any person, much less a teenager, needs legal access to a semi-automatic weapon. I understand the “slippery slope” argument, that any restrictions on our right to possess weapons will begin to erode the 2nd Amendment. We may challenge that argument, but, even more importantly, we know we are already well down the “slippery slope” of death and destruction from mass killings, and that must stop. It is past time for action. For our elected officials; for all of us. Let’s be able to tell our children that we heard their cries, and we acted to keep them safe.
Lee Sherman, President & CEO