Colorado Shooting Victim Demands that Obama/Romney Form a Plan to Stop Gun Violence
The gun violence epidemic has taken hold of many communities across America. Black males are, by far, the most likely to die from gun violence, but the violence is now spilling over into broader communities, as shown by the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. This week, President Obama and Mitt Romney are planning to hold a debate in a theater that is just a few miles from the site of the Aurora Batman massacre, where James Holmes broke into a movie theater and murdered over a dozen people.
Even though gun violence continues to kill thousands of Americans every year, no one in Washington appears all that eager to do anything about it. One group is hoping to use the upcoming presidential debates to change that.
Activists at www.demandaplan.org are telling Washington politicians that enough is enough when it comes to dragging their feet on gun violence. The group has put together a television ad asking the presidential candidates to discuss gun violence and how they plan to help reduce it. The ad shows Stephen Barton, a recent Syracuse University graduate and Fulbright Scholarship recipient, who was shot while spending the night in Aurora on a bicycle trip across America.
“I never thought I’d be a shooting victim until I was bleeding on a floor in Aurora,” said Barton. “I was lucky, but I’ve seen what happens when dangerous people get their hands on guns. And I think it’s fair to ask the men who want to lead the country to get past the platitudes and give us a serious plan to address a serious problem.”
The “Demand a Plan” campaign is led by both shooting survivors and Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The group is a bipartisan coalition of concerned citizens and mayors who want to close all loopholes to keep felons, domestic violence offenders, the seriously mentally ill and similar citizens from getting access to guns. Over 725 mayors are on-board with the initiative.
“When the candidates walk into that auditorium, I hope they’ll be thinking about another theater a few miles away where a dozen people were murdered, and dozens more were injured like Stephen,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “He deserves a straight answer about what the candidates plan to do about it.”
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
