Letter to Congressional Person (D.A.)
Dear Senator Johnson,
In the recent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, the principal, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, gave her life, lunging empty-handed at an armed gunman, to protect the children in her care. The school psychologist, Mary Sherlach, 56, gave her life, lunging empty-handed at an armed gunman, to protect the children in her care. A teacher, Victoria Soto, 27, gave her life, shielding the children in her care with her body. This is what courageous people do.
You are my representative in government. As such, my children are in your care. My friends’ children are in your care. WHAT KIND OF COURAGE ARE YOU PREPARED TO SHOW, TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN IN YOUR CARE? If those three women could risk their lives, and you’re not willing to risk your job, you are not worthy of the job you hold.
There are more of us in favor of gun control, in this country, today, than there are who oppose gun control. The difference is, they have an organization, and leaders, and lobbyists to express their views in Washington. We don’t. We need someone who can lead us. We need someone who can stand up, in front of the entire world, and say, “I will be the person who will change this --- I will stop the carnage --- follow me.”
DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE THAT PERSON? Do you have one tenth of the courage Dawn Hochsprung, Mary Sherlach and Vickie Soto showed? That’s all it would take for you to be a hero too.
Sincerely,
.........
P.S.
If you have any hesitation about this it's possible that you are still laboring under the manufactured delusion that concealed carry permits -- and increasing their number, to get even more guns in to the hands of even more Americans -- will somehow save lives and prevent insane murder rampages like the one at the Sandy Hook school.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
It's simple arithmetic. Bogus, far-fetched and contrived assertions are routinely made by the supporters of gun manufacturers, but actual (verified and documented) cases are few and far between.
On the other hand, there is a very good report on this issue at the Brady Campaign's website.
It's called, "Concealed Carry Killers."
Law Enforcement Officers Killed by Concealed Carry Killers -- 14
Private Citizens Killed by Concealed Carry Killers -- 485
Total Killed by Concealed Carry Killers -- 500
Number of Mass Shootings Committed by Concealed Carry Killers -- 23
Number of Murder-Suicides Committed by Concealed Carry Killers -- 35
Twenty-three of the incidents were mass shootings, resulting in the deaths of 103 victims.
This research report is available at:
http://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm
The report goes on to add:
[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left: 1em; border: 2px solid #6600cc; border-radius: 0.4615em; box-shadow: 6px 6px 6px #999999;"]"....unfounded assertions are repeated to this day. In a September 28, 2010, opinion piece on Foxnews.com, concealed carry advocate John Lott asserted, 'Fears about accidents and rampages by permit holders, and blood running in the streets however never materialized where concealed carry has been allowed.'
Such false claims are endlessly repeated by pro-gun advocates in their ongoing efforts to expand the carrying of concealed handguns into bars, churches, schools, and places of employment. In addition, the gun lobby has been successful at hiding the truth about crimes committed by concealed handgun permit holders by forcing most states to keep secret the identities of permit holders. As a result, until recently, the false claims made by pro-gun advocates regarding these 'upstanding community leaders' have been left unchallenged.
In 2009, the Violence Policy Center began an ongoing research project to identify killings from May 2007 to the present involving citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns. Because detailed information on such killings is not readily available, the VPC is forced to rely primarily on news accounts for reports of such killings and subsequent legal proceedings.
Above is the current tally from May 2007 to the present of killings involving persons with concealed carry permits or who committed a killing in public with a legal handgun in a state that allows concealed carry without a permit (Alaska, Arizona, and Vermont allow the carrying of concealed handguns without a permit). The killings are broken out by specific categories and a killing may fit into more than one category. Because the VPC relies primarily on news reports for the majority of incidents, the actual numbers are most likely far higher."
Senator Johnson, it's not an issue that should require any additional debate, or searching after the facts, equivocation or hesitation. The number of killers who were also concealed carry permit holders is the dirty secret that the gun manufacturers don't want the public to know. Add to that the number of people who are able to purchase and obtain weapons without a CC permit (or to steal, or simply help themselves to unattended, unsecured military grade weapons, as happened in Connecticut), and the immediate need for action in Congress is obvious.
What's not so obvious is the "other numbers" at work here. The NRA has an annual budget of between 225 and 250 million dollars:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/04/18/standing-its-ground-the-nra-announces-all-in-at/184952
The Brady campaign and the Violence Policy Center have an annual budget that adds up to a little less than 4 million dollars.
It may be a sacrifice for you, personally, and your campaign, to consider relinquishing the generous support you've received from the gun manufacturers lobby, and their hard line ideological allies.
So once again, I ask you, do you have one tenth of the courage that Dawn Hochsprung, Mary Sherlach and Vickie Soto showed?
= new reply since forum marked as read
Thank you for taking the time to write. I plan on doing that as well. 
