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The travesty must end now in United States

February 22, 2018

Regardless of your political affiliation, regardless of your personal preferences, regardless of your station in life, we must come together to end the murders in our churches, schools and cities. No other industrial country suffers as the United States does at the hands of a powerful entity such as the National Rifle Association.

When the Second Amendment was written, the weapons were muskets and pistols that could only fire one round before being reloaded. Rifles were developed to assist in the necessity of hunting for food. Today, no one needs an automatic weapon that, clearly, was designed as a weapon for war.

As a young college graduate living in the D.C. area, I was proud to join a lobbying group promoting support for public education. It entailed making phone calls and visiting Capitol Hill. We need to return to that public participation. Now, far too many members of Congress rely on contributions from lobbies to stay in office. The NRA spent $21 million to help President Trump win the election.

Marco Rubio of Florida, where the most recent massacre occurred, received $3-plus million toward his re-election campaign.

What happened to seeking office for the honor of public service? We are not being served if our members of government put their own monetary gains and desire for re-election ahead of constituents' needs and wants. We must end this insanity.

We are now ensconced in a dangerous atmosphere of hatred, intolerance and lawlessness. Wednesday's massacre occurred after the FBI received two warnings of the dangerousness of the perpetrator. They share in the accountability.

I cherish my 30-year career as an educator in the Maryland School System that was located in a suburb of Washington, D.C. We faced challenges and we overcame challenges. What has happened in the 18 reported school shootings since Jan. 1 has shattered the lives of every student, family and faculty member who knew the victims. None will ever be the same.

As caring and compassionate Americans, we must support a ban on the sale of automatic and semiautomatic weapons to the general public. In addition to the ban, support is needed to implement a buyback program for automatic and semiautomatic weapons. Also, a limit must be established for monetary contributions by lobbies to political campaigns.

Carol Hughes
Lewes

 

 

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