Gun control reform still needed six years later

December 14 is the sixth anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School; this slaughter of six year olds was the event that a mourning nation hoped/believed would be the path towards a conversation on sensible gun reform, not the repeal of the 2nd Amendment but a rational discussion on background checks, high capacity magazines and weapons of war.

Six years later there is no place in America where a child, teenager, young adult and adults are safe from mass murder; concerts, yoga studio, grocery stores, libraries, churches, synagogues, temples, restaurants, hospitals, newspapers, sporting events, factories, airports, military bases, schools, malls, protests, government buildings, homes, movie theaters, nursing homes, college campus’, civic centers, trains, bowling allies, beauty shops, driving, motels/hotels, stores, parks and campgrounds, warehouses, fitness clubs, car washes, skating rinks, spas, car dealerships, bars/nightclubs and walking are all sites of massacres.

The NRA and NRA owned politicians, after offering thoughts and prayers then offer as a solution, armed guards. How many armed guards does this country need? Who will pay for these guards? Where will they be trained? Will they be subject to background checks? The security guard at the Borderline Bar was the first killed, highly trained and armed officers have been wounded and killed by shooters, maybe it is time to look for ways to reform gun laws rather than continue the rhetoric.

 Since the Texas Tower Massacre in August 1966, 1387 people have been slaughtered in mass killings; this number includes 162 children, the youngest being eight months old and two unborn children. For a country not at war, America is the most violent nation on earth, an average of 342 people are shot per day, 96 of those people die, on average 17,207 children and teens are shot per year, 2,737 die. If a disease killed this many people, the outcry and demand for a cure would be overwhelming.

The local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Flagstaff Save Our Children will have a Sandy Hook remembrance on December 14 at the Murdock Center at 6:00 p.m.

KATHY FRASER From AZ Daily Sun December 9, 2018