In response to “Mayor Expresses View on Gun Control Debate,” published on March 29.
I was not at the meeting, so not in tune with the finer context of the mayor’s statement. However, as part of the 70 percent of Americans who do not own a gun, for 60 years, like many people in the free world, I’ve exercised my free speech rights regularly, speaking out to elected officials, attending protests, etc., without the need for a gun or assault rifle to protect that right. The press, also protected by the mayor’s quoted First Amendment, has never been so much under attack as now, despite Americans owning an all-time record amount of guns and assault rifles, so the mayor’s point saying the First Amendment is backed up by the Second Amendment was lost on me. For decades, our elected officials, cowering under the gun lobby, have done zero to protect us, favoring their campaign contributions and their office over the many thousands of innocent lives lost each year. Finally, the children stood up to the gun lobby saying never again to Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Las Vegas and the list goes on. I am very disappointed in the mayor’s response, which at best appeared to blunt and diminish the children’s hope and call for a safer future than American adults have handed them.
Tom Molloy