gun control

I wanted my children to understand the peacefulness of life in a small town in America. They've grown up to violence "live from LA" it's "OJ"...and they have seen rage over the beating of Rodney King... brutality causing more brutality...and there is Southern California's own insanity... death caused by road rage...

I always thought that this little town was different but this summer we all learned that there's no place in America that is free of violence.

I knew about the six year old in Flint, Michigan who had a bad day and killed his classmate. I knew that kids had lost their lives in Columbine and the terror that struck in the heart of every parent about the safety of children in every school...

But I went to this small town in Michigan with a vision of returning to a safe haven, a place where kids could be kids...where the blue heron would float across the lake and the peace and quiet would prevail.

The peace was shattered the second night of our vacation when a jealous husband with a hand gun...killed his best friend while his son watched...his sons fled and as the police entered the house the young boys father shot himself.

As flashing red lights came down the dirt road... I went out to see what was the commotion. I looked into the eyes of that ten year old boy who had just lost his father, I looked into the eyes of his teenage brother trying to hold it all together...It was the second homicide of the night.. word was that on the other side of the lake a retired handicapped police officer had shot and killed his son for not taking him to the doctor....all this death, caused by emotions powered by guns. No place to go once the trigger is pulled, angry words one can toss, but a gun in the hands of a angry man leaves so many victims behind...