Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

     I cannot imagine the difficulty in consoling so many who are grieving  with inconsolable loss. Time does not heal all wounds and we must go on.

     We elected you to lead and now more than any issue ever before us, the time to lead is now.  It is not time to talk about peace and love and respect for our fellow man. Perhaps that can come somewhere way down the line.

     The time to end the ability to bear assault weapons is now. The time to talk about it is over. 

‎"Other countries offer a road map. In Australia in 1996, a mass killing of 35 people galvanized the nation’s prime minister to ban rapid-fire long guns. The “national firearms agreement,” as it was known, led to the buyback of 650,000 guns and to tighter rules for licensing and safe storage of those remaining in public hands.

The law did not end gun ownership in Australia. [But] in the 18 years before the law, Australia suffered 13 mass shootings — and not one in the 14 years after the law took full effect."

(from Helen Lewis)

Surely Mr. President, if you can declare an act of war, you can declare an act of peace.  

In the short term ban ammunition. Allow for only law enforcement to purchase bullets and other ammunition. You cannot recover all the guns, but you can stop the bullets.

Amidst kindness, the mentally unstable will always be among us.  Sometimes for the good of us all, individual freedoms must be curtailed. If not, we will grieve once again for the the loss of  innocents caught in the crossfire.

The time to ACT is now. Today.