To: Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and CEO of N.R.A.
Dear N.R.A.: Help Us End the Violence
The N.R.A. must stop lobbying against common sense gun control laws. Guns that enable mass killings, such as rapid-fire long guns, should not be available to the public. Longer waiting periods should be required before a gun purchase, and more thorough background checks of prospective gun buyers should be mandatory. We realize that these measures will be an inconvenience to gun enthusiasts, but we ask for your patience as we all work together for a safer America.
Why is this important?
We've all heard the National Rifle Association's slogan that "Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill People." But after all the mass shootings deaths that America has suffered recently, even the N.R.A. must admit that while guns by themselves don't kill people, guns certainly make it easier for one person to kill an awful lot of other people very quickly. I experienced the helpless terror of someone threatened by a masked gunman with a semiautomatic weapon when one entered my place of employment in fall 2010. Fortunately, that young man chose not to kill anyone but himself, but I don't think that more guns would have helped the situation. If we'd all been armed and had all opened fire on the gunman, we probably would have just wounded or killed each other accidentally.