violence好きか自衛策か

米Connecticut州NewtownのSandy Hook小学校で児童、教職員ら26名が殺害殺害された衝撃の銃乱射事件から早や丁度半年。その後、銃による犠牲者は全米で数千人、一日平均33名を数えるというからゾッとする。


小学校での犠牲者の大半が5〜6才の子供だったこともあり、銃規制を求める声が全米で高まり、Connecticut州を含む一部の州法による規制強化が実現したが連邦がダメ。4月に上院で銃規制強化法案を否決する有様だ。

同小学校の女性校長も犠牲者の一人だった。一昨日この校長の遺族である娘Erica Laffertyさんから次ぎのようなemailが届いた--

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My mom, Dawn Hochsprung was the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Six months ago today, she was shot and killed in her school, along with five of coworkers and 20 of her students.
In the weeks and months after that horrible day, lawmakers from across the country told us, the families of the victims, that they'd take action to make our communities safer. What we found out is that, for some of our members of Congress, those were empty promises.
And in those six months, thousands more people have been killed bu guns.
I've been doing everything I can to reach out to members of Congress. But my voice isn't enough. Today, on the six-month anniversary of Newtown, every single person who cares about reducing gun violence in America needs to recommit to this fight.
More than 1.4 million Americans have said they're with us in the fight to reduce gun violence--add your name today.
In her last minutes, Mom was just as brave and caring as I knew her to be. After telling everyone to hide, she went running into the hallway, saw the gunman, yelled and lunged at him in an effort to protect the school she loved.
i miss her every second of every day. I'm getting married in just a few weeks--to a guy she was rooting for, in a dress we picked out together--but because a dangerous man got his hands on guns, my mom won't be there to see it.
I'm still grieving--and I'm not alone. On average, 33 Americans are killed by a gun every single day. That's 33 new families a day who mourn like I do.
If a background check saves even one life, and keeps even one family from hurting like this, then this fight will be worth it. I think my mom would like to know that the tragedy that fell on Newtown meant that another tragedy could be stopped before it even started.
I'm asking you to join me today, six months after that horrible day, to keep fight going--take action for my mom, Dawn, and the 25 other people who we lost in December.
Say you're with us today:
Thanks,
Erica
Erica Lafferty

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自らを盾に、児童たちと学校を守ろうとして銃弾に斃れ、殉職した女子校長Dawn Hochsprung先生の勇猛果敢な最期は壮絶かつ崇高だ。
それに引き換え、政治家たち、中でも連邦議会議員連中はナニモノなのか。
銃規制強化法案さえ議会通過させず、最近話題にもしない。GOP議員に限らず、DPのも全米ライフル協会に操られている御仁がいるようだ。


店に現われた銃購入希望者の犯罪歴の有無をチェックする。殺傷力の強い銃は販売禁止とする--わずかこれだけの規制法案さえまかりならぬという。

上下院の民主・共和のネジレ現象が法案通過を悉く邪魔している。それだけが理由だとは思えない。Gallup社が最近発表した世論調査結果によれば、米国民が最も信頼していないのが連邦議会。信頼度わずか10%にすぎない。我が国議会より酷いのではないか。

校長の娘Ericaさんの連邦議会に対する不信感は強い。銃犯罪を減らすため草の根の運動に加わりﾒｰﾙで国民に参加を呼びかけている。

Barack ObamaをバックアップするOFAと一体となった140万人を超える組織が銃規制強化のための闘い、キャンペーンを展開している。参加・署名を呼びかけられても生粋の日本人の我輩には参加資格がないのが残念だ