MY COMMENTS TO THE MARCHERS TODAY IN KILMARNOCK

MARCH FOR OUR LIVES

David Cariens

March 24, 2018

Kilmarnock, Virginia

Thank all of you for coming today in support of the Parkland students’ initiative to stop gun violence and the horrific epidemic of school shootings plaguing our nation.

The students at Parkland are inspiring; they are showing us the way. The students at Parkland are right; we have failed to keep our schools safe—we have failed miserably. Time and time again, we have wept, we have wrong our hands in disbelief, but we have done little to keep guns out of the hands of those who are threat to themselves and others. As a result, the bodies pile up—students, faculty, concerts goers, and moviegoers—the carnage continues and the self-proclaimed greatest nation on earth sits on its hands seemingly paralyzed and incapable of action.

From Columbine, to the Appalachian School of Law, to Virginia Tech, to Sandy Hook, to a nightclub in Orlando or a concert in Las Vegas, and now a high school in Parkland, Florida, the killings multiply.

While gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association buy our politicians and stifle laws to make our schools safer, other nation’s act. Australia, Canada, and Great Britain all have laws to keep guns out of the hands of those who are a threat to themselves and others, to keep weapons away from terrorists—and make no mistake about it—shootings in schools or any public place are a form of domestic terrorism. The countries I just mentioned are not dictatorships—their citizens have the same rights we have. And most important, these countries have a fraction of the gun violence we have.

Don’t believe the lies spouted by the Second Amendment extremists. Sensible gun laws are compatible with our freedoms. I would remind you, all the Amendments to the Constitution have limits—we are guaranteed freedom of speech, but I cannot stand here and swear like a drunken sailor—the law does not permit it. Nowhere does the Second Amendment give anyone the right to take someone else’s life just for the hell of it. Nowhere does the Second Amendment give anyone the right to take a gun, and because of real or imagined insults, go into public spaces and slaughter people.

Furthermore, other Amendments to the Constitutions are not used to guarantee profits for any industry—only the Second Amendment is exploited to spur gun sales and make wealthy gun manufacturers richer.

There is an unhealthy obsession with gun rights in this country and after each massacre the media concentrates on the rights of citizens to own guns. Rarely is there talk about the rights of those who have been killed. What about their rights? If you want to talk about the rights the founding fathers gave us, then ok let’s talk. What about the opening line of the Declaration of Independence laying out the rights we all have, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

There is a saying, “Thinking is hard work, that is why so few people do it.” Those words fit people who want unbridled access to guns, especially automatic, rapid-fire weapons of war. How can the Wayne LaPierres of this world ignore the anguished cries of the parents at Sandy Hook and elsewhere? How can people ignore the fact that almost 100,000 Americans are wounded or killed by guns every year? How can any thinking person ignore the fact that since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, more Americans have died by American gunfire than perished on foreign battlefields in all of the 20^th Century?

I would like to specifically address the men listening to me. Men commit over 95 per cent of the mass killings in this country. This epidemic of gun-related violence is a male problem and men need to fix it. Gentlemen, you manhood is not measured by the size of your weapon; it is measured by the size of your backbone and your willingness to stand up and be counted in the effort to help stop this carnage.

To paraphrase a Parkland student, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, we all bleed the same red blood; we suffer and feel pain equally. Yet we have failed to come together stop gun violence. If you are a Democrat, a Republican or member of the Tea Party, remember we all share important things—among these is our love for our children and respect for their teachers and school administrators. No matter what your party affiliation I ask you to think and think clearly about what is happening our nation and our families and to join with others to stop the killings.

I know first-hand what it is like to lose a family member in a school shooting, I still hear the hours of cries and screams of my then seven-year-old granddaughter when she was told that her mother had been gunned down at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia; I have talked with and felt the pain of the Virginia Tech families; I have listened to the lies of school and elected officials while they cover up incompetence and inaction. I have had enough! The young people of Parkland are right, now is the time to act, now is the time to take steps to stop the killings.

Students at Parkland, we hear your cry and we will not remain silent. You inspire us, you are giving us courage; we are responding to your call and we are demanding change. And if our elected officials will not pass common sense gun safety laws and increase spending on mental health, we will vote them out. We have an election this November, how many more have to die? We are tired of waiting for action. If no meaningful steps are taken to stop the slaughter, then it is time to vote them out! Vote them out! Vote them out! Let me repeat, vote them out!

Thank you for listening to me. Now, let’s get to work and elected people who will help stop the slaughter.