INDIGNANCE

This week President Obama came out swinging about the tragedy of gun violence in America. First, he gave a moving address from the White House, in which he was surrounded by victims of gun violence. In that speech, the President talked about the tragic, senseless loss of so many Americans to gun violence. He was angry, and he was also visibly emotional-even moved to tears at times.

He followed this up with an Op-Ed in the New York Times today-something that has rarely been done by a sitting American president. In that piece, the President called for common sense measures to reduce gun violence. He acknowledged that these measures would not stop all gun violence. However, he made it clear that they would be successful if they only saved one life.

I could not agree with him more, especially when I look at Nicholas and Cate. Cate is a first grader, the same age as the children who were gunned down in Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. I would be destroyed if I lost her this way. Wouldn't any politician-Democrat or Republican-feel shame if their loved one was gunned down because they failed to enact common-sense legislation? And yet, they do not act. This is because they view gun violence as someone else problem and because there is no political pressure for them to vote with their conscience rather with the National Rifle Association.

I hope that our leaders one day see the light. Perhaps it will take more Newtowns, San Bernadinos, or Rosebergs where these politician's families' lives are lost. At the current rate, gun violence will  certainly make its way to a community near them and us all. Oh, the indignity of this country.