‘How Many More Have To Die?’

March 30, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: How can we continue to remain silent after the last school shooting? Three 9-year-olds just died in their school room near Nashville, the state next door to Virginia. Every one of the murderer’s seven weapons were legally purchased.

Republicans obstruct every single common sense gun law Congress or our state’s General Assembly try to pass, apparently believing that is what will get them reelected. Yet, over 85% of the voters in this country support universal background checks and red flag laws. Why do we continue to reelect these people?

To Rockbridge County: did you vote for a Republican in the last election? Did you vote at all? Do you feel any remorse or responsibility for the deaths of these innocent children? I call upon you to speak for those dead children and demand that those Republicans pass laws outlawing citizen ownership of assault or automatic weapons. And if they continue to refuse, vote them out. It has been too late for too long. How many more children have to die? Do we have to wait until someone shoots up one of our schools to take this seriously? Do one of your children have to die first?

I call upon the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office, the Buena Vista Police and the Lexington Police to speak out for gun regulation. It is those officers who will face down the killers when they invade one of our local schools. It is those officers who will experience the trauma of the gruesome scenes of dead children in classrooms. Your voices are respected by our citizens. For your protection and that of our children, speak out. This is not a “political” problem; it is a safety and public health problem.

And mental health? We ignore that problem too. But more importantly, every single other country in the world has as many problems with mental health but only a tiny fraction of our shootings. IT’S THE GUNS. ELLEN ARTHUR Rockbridge County