Catherine Crowley tried to change a state gun law after her 18-year-old son killed himself with a shotgun he bought at a Wal-Mart.
Her endeavor fell short when lawmakers rejected her idea to require a waiting period for young people to buy guns in Maine. But her effort can now be seen in a new documentary.
The 55-minute film, "There Ought To Be A Law," provides a look at Crowley's experience navigating the legislative system in hopes of getting a law on the books to make it harder for young people to get their hands on guns.
Ms. Crowley, honest to God, I'm sorry for your loss, but why should that have any bearing on what freedoms the rest of us claim? And can you honestly tell us that your son's life and upbringing revealed no indications that he had difficulty coping with his troubles?
I don't mean to belittle you for being "divorced and working two jobs," a situation many unfortunately (or, more often, through unwise mate selection) find themselves in, but who is providing the children with the stable parenting they need while you're out there, and God bless you for it, doing your best to provide for them? I can tell you, as the father of two teenage boys, I've not met too many single mothers up to the task of providing the needed perspective, example and authority that a loving dad in the home does. And the ones who come closest are there with the children, not absent because of work.
What will you do if the waiting period you wish for is imposed--and someone
else's son or daughter dies because they were denied the means of protection until it was too late? Besides, if you really want to reduce "gun suicides," you're looking at
the wrong segment of the populace.
Listen to people blind with grief, helplessness and (possibly) guilt if you wish to lend a sympathetic ear. But to heed their counsel as justification for limiting the rights of those not so afflicted is not only insane, but the blood dancers are counting on it.
