I Resolve

The Honorable                                       The Honorable                                     The Honorable   

Bill Nelson                                            Marco Rubio                                         David Jolly                  

U.S. Senate                                            U.S. Senate                                          U.S. House

716 Hart Senate O. B     .                       284 Russell Senate O.B.                     1728 Longworth O.B.

Washington, DC  20510                       Washington, DC 20510                         Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable                                       The Honorable                                      

Jack Latvala                                          James W. Grant                                   

Florida Senate                                       Florida House                                      

26133 US Hwy 19 N, #201                  12972 North Dale Mabry

Clearwater, FL  33763                         Tampa, FL  33618-2806

The Honorable                                      The Honorable

Rick Scott                                             Pam Bondi

Governor of Florida                              Attorney General of Florida

The Capitol                                           The Capitol

400 S. Monroe Street                             PL-01

Tallahassee, FL  32399-0001               Tallahassee, FL  32399-1050

Dear Sirs and Madam:

Please forgive any awkwardness, this is my first time writing to one of my elected officials so I am a bit unsure of the proper protocol. What I am sure of is that I, and many like me, must acknowledge our share of the responsibility for the recent slaughter in Orlando.  I make this assertion because when faced with violence like this in the past, we did not stand up strongly enough or for long enough to get you and your colleagues to listen to our concerns.  Or maybe we did not voice those concerns loudly enough or stridently enough to be heard over the special-interest lobbies.  Whatever the reason, rather than changing anything, we all learned the steps to the gun-tragedy waltz and no matter how much we protested that we wanted things to change, when the music came up we danced the steps: fear, shock, horror, anger, prayer, moments of silence, mourning and acceptance. And then, still and quiet, we waited for our cue for the next tragedy so we could repeat the steps that had become so ingrained in us. Well, I am done with that dance.  This time, when I got to anger, I pivoted and stepped to resolved.  And that is where I am standing my ground.  Resolved to push for reasonable gun controls.  Resolved to retire bigotry.

Let’s tackle the first one, shall we?    In order to assure you that I am not against all gun ownership, you need to know a bit about me and my background.  I grew up in a Florida Cracker household where guns and hunting were an integral part of our food delivery system.  My father killed his first wild turkey when he was ten years old.  At that point, Daddy took over the feeding of the family (his father was injured in the WWI and died a few years after).  If Daddy didn’t grow it, shoot it or catch it, his family didn’t eat it.   My childhood was not quite so hardscrabble but we still had far more meat on our table from hunting than we did from a butcher shop.  Daddy taught numerous young people how to hunt and included in those lessons was the difference between hunting and killing.  And those traditions carried forward.  My oldest son felled a deer with his first shot on his first hunt.  That son is now using those skills as a member of the 82^nd Airborne. 

The point:  I get it.  I get that guns have a use and a place.   But not all guns should be used in all places or by all people.  Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the woods with hunters of all ages and backgrounds.  Never once did I see one of them carrying an assault weapon as they walked behind their bird dog.  And while assault weapons may have a place outside of hunting, I think their use should be strictly regulated.  Maybe people who have an irresistible urge to possess and fire one should be encouraged to explore a career in the armed services.  That way they can receive proper training and the weapon can be used in a way that helps to protect rather than to endanger the rest of us. 

And I think there are some people who should not own a gun at all.  If you have a mental illness, if you don’t have proper training, if you have anger-management issues, if you have been convicted of a violent crime, if you are dangerous enough to be on the no-fly list, you should not be able to legally purchase a gun.  Why it is harder to buy Freon or cold medicine than it is to buy a gun?  Why is driving, marriage, air travel and my uterus more strictly regulated than the possession of a deadly weapon?  Just to be clear: these are not rhetorical questions, I really would like answers. 

In short: I do not advocate gun absolutism but rather reasonable gun controls and regulations.

And now, the second resolution:  the retirement of bigotry.   Every time we stand quietly by and watch as a group of people are marginalized because of their race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or whatever the offense du jour is, we delay the retirement of bigotry.  And let’s all agree that its retirement is long overdue.  After all, bigotry has been around for generations breeding hate and the violence than inevitably follows.  As a vertically-challenged, chubby, middle-aged, heterosexual, white woman, I don’t know what it is like to have people who hate me without knowing me.  Know me and hate me, yes; but not hate me just because I fall into a specific group.   I am resolved that other people should have that same protection. 

In short: enough arguing over restrooms already– just accept that everyone should be allowed to pee (or marry, or pursue an education, or worship, or legally immigrate to this country to build a better life) in peace. 

So what’s the next step? What comes after the pivot from anger to resolution?  Action.  As you can tell by this letter, I am in the process of reaching out to my elected officials.  In addition, this week I joined and donated to Equality Florida, MoveOn.Org and Americans for Responsible Solutions.   And I will be supporting these groups with whatever talent, skill and energy I have.  And of course, there is voting. Something I have been doing since the first election after my 18^th birthday (which was shortly after the dinosaurs’ untimely demise).  While I am a registered Democrat, I have never voted a strict party ticket. Rather I try to analyze the candidates and find the best overall fit for what I think is the right direction for our country.  And from this point forward, I will be looking closely at a candidate’s position on gun control and their willingness (or lack thereof) to provide full, complete protection to all our of people.

It is time to take our country back from the NRA and the hate groups that masquerade as concerned citizens trying to protect the rest of us from immigrants, Muslims, gays, lesbians, etc.,  etc., ad nauseam. 

And then? Then I’ll be dancing my happy dance and I hope you’ll join me.