gun control

Gun Control

In light of the recent events in CT I thought I should share with you the my thoughts on gun control. For those of you who do not know my back story my little sister Sara was killed her best friend's boyfriend with a hand gun. She was only 15 years old.

My mother had a knock on the door on a Sunday evening. It was a state trooper. He told her that her daughter had been in an accident and she needed to go to the hospital. She called me and I beat her there. They would not tell us everything until everyone  was there in the family room. I had my dad on the phone long distance in South Dakota. We were all speculating that it was a car accident and couldn't understand why we couldn't see her. Then the Dr came and told us told us she had been shot. Through the head. I felt as though I had been punched in the gut. All the air had been sucked out of the room and I couldn't breath. My dad was yelling in my ear "What was happening?". It was the worst thing I had ever had to tell someone. They said at the moment she was alive but she was brain dead.

Her killer had been messing around with the gun and dropped the clip out. He jokingly told her he was going to kill her and pointed the gun in her direction. He then pulled the trigger. The only thing he forgot to do was empty the chamber. The bullet had entered her forehead and exited out the back taking parts of her brain with it. When the ambulance arrived she was dead. They revived her two more time in route the the hospital.

We were allowed to go in there two by two and say our goodbyes. She did not look like herself. She had tubes going coming and going all over her body. The side of her forehead where the bullet had gone in was swollen up to the size of a softball. They are tried to arrange her hair so that you couldn't see the mess of what was the back of her head. There was blood trickling out of her nose. I asked the nurse if she could hear us. He just nodded. I know now that she was no longer there but I think he was afraid to speak to us. I squeezed her hand and told her that I loved her and too hang it there.

Her killer was only 17. After suffering that living nightmare you would think I would hate guns.  That you would think that I would support every gun control measure that even whispered my way.

I. do. not.

I think that no matter how strong you make the laws the bad people are still going to get a hold of them. My sister's killer bought his off the black market for $35.00. They were in a gang and thought they needed to protect themselves. If he, a 17 year old child with stupid intentions, was able to buy a gun don't you think that a harden criminal would be able to get around the law and get one too? The end result would just be upright, moral citizens unable to defend themselves if necessary.

We donated Sara's organs to people who needed them. She helped 27 people that night. That young man's life ended in a way also. He was charged as an adult with manslaughter and was supposed to serve 7 years. His life will never be the same.

I think the best defense against senseless tragedies like the one in CT is community involvement. Even if you might live in a large city there are still options. Everything can be broken down into smaller parts. You can have neighborhood associations, clubs, drives, or mentoring programs. If someone notices something is amiss with someone we can get them help sooner. Before things like this happen.

The American people have become too apathetic. They think they can let someone else take care of the problem. We can't let this continue. You can't live next door to someone for years and never even know their name. You can help feed and clothe the poor. You can help a senior by taking them to the store. You have to be more involved in your children's lives. You bet your bottom dollar I know what my children are up to. I know their friends, and the friends parents and where they are! There are endless possibilites as to how you can plug in.

Jesus said love your neighbor. It's as simple as that.