You Can't be Both

Original post: February 15,2018

It was December 2002 when my son posted on MySpace that he could understand why Dylan Klebold might have done what he did. A parent saw the post, called the principal and the police, who showed up at our house. You see, my son had been part of a state champion soccer team and after the season ended a kid told him he didn't deserve the ring he wore. It was the last in a series of bullying events that had led to that moment.

Threats like that need to be addressed quickly, and we lived in  a school district that did so, with a principal who cared. My son did not have access to a gun, nor did he really want to hurt anyone in such a way. He'd lived through domestic violence in our home and knew the difference between threats and action. 

At the time, I worked in mental health. Between us: myself, my husband and the principal, we set supports in place for my son to finish out the school year on a high note. The principal told him that someday that boy would be sitting across the desk from him, asking him for a job. 

Another of my boys played youth soccer against Rob Portman's son. I remember seeing Mr. Portman and his wife on the sidelines talking to their upper crust friends. Knowing that the N.R.A. has thrown boat loads of money at Mr. Portman's campaign, thinking about those boys on a soccer field, I wonder if back then, when our children were young, if Mr. Portman thought arming a 19 year old would be a good idea. I'm sure he'd deny it today.

I live in Kentucky now and we have our own brand of crazy politicians who can't stand for anything but the flow of money into their election campaigns. But I have children and grandchildren in Ohio and here's what I want you to know, Mr. Portman: Get your priorities straight. Either you are for the people of your state and represent them or you are for the N.R.A. You can't be both. 

Mr. Massey here in Kentucky sent me a letter when he initially campaigned for his seat in the House of Representatives. In the letter he stated that his core values were pro-life, and the right to bear arms. Mr. Massey, you can't be both for life and for guns. You can't talk about life starting at conception when you support the sale of guns that murder our children. 

Jean Shinoda Boland spoke once about the fact that if more women were in positions of leadership, violence would be reduced, based on the very fact that a mother doesn't want to have to bury her child. I say it's time that we stand up for our children, and do what we can to reduce the power of organizations such as the N.R.A. and all the other gun lobbyists out there.