The Houston Chronicle editorial board stepped in a pile of poo last Sunday when its members decided to publish an opinion piece by Marsha McCartney, of Dallas, state president of the Texas Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Almost all of the paper’s readers who commented online reacted angrily to the editorial, which is partially rendered below. If Gun Reports members would like to chime in, the link for the story on the newspaper’s website is listed below, along with the editorial page email.
May 10, 2008, 1:57PMGuns and mothers – the linkMoms can help reduce child deaths by working to close gun show loophole
By MARSHA MCCARTNEY
On this Mother’s Day, millions of American moms are receiving flowers, gifts and the special attention of loved ones.
But approximately eight moms will receive something else today – the news that one of their children has been killed by a gun. Another 48 moms will learn that a child has been shot, but has survived.
On an average day in America, 56 children and teens are the victims of gun violence – and eight of those die of their injuries.
That’s every day of the year, Mother’s Day included.
And those figures don’t include the 76 adults who will be killed by a gun, or the 148 other adults who will be shot and wounded on Mother’s Day. Each of these victims is someone’s child, too.
Why does this happen? Because right now, it is far too easy to obtain a gun in America. In most states, even convicted felons and the dangerously mentally ill – like the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre – can walk into any gun show and buy any weapon from an unlicensed seller without anyone checking their background. Or even asking them any questions.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Effective gun control legislation works. The Brady Bill, which was passed in 1994 by large majorities of both houses of Congress, has kept at least 1.5 million dangerous people from purchasing firearms.
Think of how many moms have been unknowingly spared the pain of losing a child simply because the law prevented the purchase of a gun by someone who has no good reason to have one.
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The link to the chron.com webpage for comment: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5769227.html
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