A Selection of MomsRising Gun Violence Stories

MOTHERS KNOW BEST:

Now Is the tIme to Pass CommoN-seNse GuN

safety PolICIes

MomsRising members share their own experiences and thoughts

about how gun violence has impacted their families and communities.

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Senator,

The shooting deaths of 20 first graders in Newtown, CT, last December was another painful reminder of the terrible toll gun violence takes on our families and communities each and every day. More than 30 people lose their lives to gun violence daily. [1] One in five Americans know someone who has been a victim, or have themselves been victims of gun violence.[2] This devas-tation has got to stop.

Yet, just three short months after the Newton tragedy, MomsRising is already hearing rumors that our lawmakers are losing their resolve to take action in the mistaken belief that public inter-est in gun safety has waned. We’re hearing our lawmakers may not even manage to mandate universal background checks for all gun sales, a measure supported by 90% of all Americans.[3]

Let me assure you: Moms’ interest in reducing gun violence has not waned one bit. We remember how we felt on Dec. 14, 2012, and we have not moved on. We still expect our government leaders to put families first and enact common-sense solutions to reduce gun violence.

That’s why MomsRising put together this booklet, to remind you of our enduring commitment to see meaningful gun policy reform to prevent another Newtown and to reduce gun violence. In the following pages, we share with you:

MomsRising’s petition, calling on Congress and NRA leaders to find common-sense •solutions to reduce gun violence, which gathered more than 135,000 signatures from across the nation. Here is a link to view the signatures: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.momsrising.org/images/Violence_Petition_MomsRising.pdf

MomsRising’s pledge to protect our children and communities, which gathered more •than 20,000 signatures. Here is a link to view the signatures: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.momsrising.org/images/Reduce_Violence_Pledge_MomsRising.pdf

A sample of our members’ personal stories and experiences with gun violence, from •across the country, which they share in order to convey guns’ terrible impact on families and communities, leaving scars that stay forever

Senator, hear our members’ voices, because they are the voices of moms, dads, sons, daughters, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends… They are the voices of every day Americans who count on you to protect our families and communities.

Kristin Rowe-FinkbeinerExecutive DirectorMomsRising.org

[1] “Just the Facts,” January 16, 2013, US News, http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/16/16547690-just-the-facts-gun-violence-in-america?lite

[2] Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, March 2013 <http://action.momsrising.org/go/2867?t=9&amp;akid=4089.1976766.g_35nO>, http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/8418-F.pdf

[3] “90 percent of Americans want expanded background checks on guns. Why isn’t this a political slam dunk?” Washington Post, April 3, 2013.

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MomsRising Petition for Common Sense Gun Regulations

MomsRising Pledge to Protect Our Children and Communities

http://action.momsrising.org/letter/newton_shooting1/

http://action.momsrising.org/sign/pledge/

More than 135,000 signers

More than 20,000 signers

We are beyond heartbroken as we think of the 1st graders and others that died last week in Connecticut. This is the 16th mass shooting in our nation this year.

We are parents. Many NRA members are parents. And none of us want to live in a nation where children are gunned down. Now is the time for the NRA and for Congress to step up and start proposing laws that protect children and all people.

* Sign on to our open letter to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and to Congress urging them to stop blocking common sense gun regulations that protect all of our families.

See signatures here:https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.momsrising.org/images/Violence_Petition_MomsRising.pdf

We, the moms and leaders of the United States, pledge to push for the following gun safety reforms to protect our kids, our families, and our communities:

1. Criminal background checks for all gun purchases, including at gun shows and on the Internet.

2. A ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

3. A federal gun trafficking statute with real penalties to crack down on criminals who illegally traffic guns onto our streets and south of the border to Mexico.

See signatures here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.momsrising.org/images/Reduce_Violence_Pledge_MomsRising.pdf

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A Selection of MomsRising Gun Violence Stories

Felice, Talladega, AL

My brother was shot (killed) in the head March 8, 2009 and the murderer is still out there.....he was only 26 yrs old at the time. It has caused me a lot of grief and pain. I hope the killer or killers will be brought to jus-tice soon, it will help some but I know it won’t bring my brother back.....

Linda, Culver City, CA

One of my brothers, who I will call B, became addicted to drugs, robbed banks, spent time in jail, terrorized my mom for money, shot at her and the rest of us had to ban him from our homes. One night when my Mom was not home, he came to the house looking for money and my youngest brother came home to find him there. My brother, B, had a gun and threatened my youngest brother when he would not give him the keys to his car. In a scuffle, my youngest brother managed to point the gun away and it fired and killed my drug addicted brother. We did not own guns and where he got the gun—most likely in the underground world in which he lived—we do not know. Without the gun, we would not be living this tragedy.

Susan, Rohnert Park, CA

My second cousin, Dawn Marie, had just been given a large promotion to manager of the company she worked for in North Dakota. Her husband became jealous, and suddenly insisted he was going to move across the state so he could go back to college. They argued, she separated, he got even by shooting her dead, wiping the gun, and putting it in her hand, her left hand, the wrong hand. She was right-handed. The local police are so inept that they bungled the case, lost all the evidence, and then just abandoned it alto-gether!!!! Dawn Marie is still dead from murder, and her murdering husband is still free.

Shauna, Durango, CO

My uncle was shoot in an out of the way bar, called the Big Rock Inn. Yes, it sounds like something from the Flintstones. He had stopped by after work to have a beer with his friends. It was shortly after Reagan let out all the mentally ill , which contributed to California’s in-creased homeless problems. Anyway, he, some friends and the owners were kicking back and relaxing, when 3 people came in and shot the owner’s wife in the head and my uncle was shot in his arm, leaving him unable to use it. Consequently, he was unable to carry on his lifetime career as a professional tile man. The men who came in that late afternoon took at least 2 lives and

shattered those who were left alive, just like the empty shells the shot gun left behind. It scarred and scared a very small community in the high dessert of California. It was later found out that the men who shot my uncle and the others were part of that whole “release pro-gram” that Reagan allowed.

What happened at Newtown is beyond imagination! A horror some may never wake from. We have to take ac-tion or what are we teaching our children as a society? Too many deaths have happened and Sandy Hook was the biggest wake up call!!! How can anyone defend that kind of weapon power to an average citizen? How come we have to get a license to have a flipping ga-rage sale, but you don’t need one to purchase a gun? Something is truly wrong and out of balance here. I don’t want to take away people’s rights to bare arms, that’s crazy! But I see no rational reason anyone out-side the military and police to have weapons that are solely meant to do damage and kill people! If some-one needs a semi automatic weapon to hunt or a 30 round mag, something’s not right.

At what point is it enough? You’d have to be an idiot not to know that it’s the gun companies who want to sell these guys to kids, if they could and the NRA bet-ter start thinking about people, rather than only profit! They’ve handled this so badly, I don’t know how anyone can still be a member. I support common sense gun reform, NOW, before more innocent lives are taken! Thanks for letting me share . ~peace

D, Darien, CT

I have been held at gunpoint twice in my life. The first time, I was just 16 years old and was robbed at the music store where I was working. The most recent time, I was walking to the car outside a strip of busy restaurants in my “nothing like this happens here” town in Connecti-cut at 5pm on a Sunday, holding my then 1 year-old son. After taking my wedding and engagement rings and my cell phone, he told me to get in the front seat and not look back. Can you imagine the things that went through my head? After the most fearful two minutes of my life, it seemed he had left, so I grabbed my son and ran. This was over two years ago and I still have never ending day/nightmares not only about how terrifying our experience was, but about how easily it could’ve turned tragic. I remember vividly what it felt like to lock eyes with my sweet baby while a gun was pointed at us and I feared it was the end. I think about that every time I hear another horrific story of gun violence, especially what happened to those sweet children and educators at nearby Sandy Hook. We were lucky, but I now live

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each day fearful of the time we won’t be, since it seems no place is safe. I find it ridiculous that the answer is more guns - if I or another person in the parking lot had pulled a gun, I don’t think we would be alive. I fear so desperately for my children. A gun’s purpose is to kill, how much more needs to happen before we exercise common sense with our laws?

Marcia, Dunedin, FL

When I was a counselor, a father sat and told me that he was really angry with his ex-wife. He was arguing with her at her house, and he would have shot her, but he had to go to his brother’s house to get the gun. By the time he walked there, he decided that it would be better not to shoot her. He almost committed a serious crime with a gun that would have deprived his children of their mother forever, and of their father for years to come.

Esther, Miami, FL

I have been teaching for 35 years. I stayed home for 8 years after the birth of my kids. During the years that I have been in the business of educating children, I have attended at least 11 funerals of kids in my schools that were accidentally killed, while playing with their parents “unloaded” hand guns. All of these guns were pur-chased lawfully, by responsible, hardworking, honest individuals. These folks had rules set up in their homes with regard to NOT touching these guns. However, kids have always done what kids always do. They are curious and they think they are invincible. They are not invin-cible. These parents will never forgive themselves for what happened to their child. And they will never com-pletely get over the sadness and loss in their lives.

Lisa, Acworth, GA

My best friend of over 20 years had an accidental shoot-ing happen in her home while she still lived with her mother. A teen-aged close friend of my friend had come across a gun. She thought it was cool so she brought it to my friend’s house to show off. As she was pulling it out of her pocket another friend bent down to take a look, the gun got caught while she was pulling it out and it shot the friend looking in the face. The girl who was shot died, the other girl went to prison. My best friends mother had to clean up the brains. None of the people involved in this incident will ever be the same. A LARGE number of guns that are on the street end up there because of people who CLAIM to be responsible gun owners but do not take the proper precautions. Children are curious by nature. This is not about politics this is about protecting our children. I stand firm in sup-port of heavier gun control and I would like the NRA to be investigated and the findings made public when it comes to the riders they are able to buy to get put into legislation that hinders the gun control laws that have already been established from being enforced.

Patricia, Indianapolis, IN

Many people are responsible with guns. But, many are not. My niece, who was bipolar, got hold of a gun, and committed suicide. That gun should have been locked up. Too many children die from guns that are not stored in gun safes. Guns are so easily obtained, that gun violence in cities and towns does not even rate the first page. We always think we will not be a vic-tim, until it happens to us. In my suburban, middle class neighborhood, a retired gentleman had his home in-vaded and was shot and killed. His wife has cancer, and he was her caregiver. His grandchildren have lost their beloved grandfather. The person who did this, most likely has a juvenile or adult criminal record. I do not want to live in fear. Are we to sit at our breakfast tables, armed and wearing a bandolero of ammo, in case a monster breaks in our window? This is what happened to my neighbor. He was eating breakfast. Even if he had a gun, he would not have had time to get it. Until we have gun control, we will all live in fear. The next Newtown is going to happen. A deranged person will want their fifteen minutes of fame, and seeing that kill-ing children insures it, they will strike. Once again, the NRA and corrupt politicians will have blood on their hands, but do not care, and will try to stop any reason-able change for gun control. It is up to us to stop them. It is up to us to tell them they will not be re-elected if they continue to support this madness.

Several years ago, a cousin of mine was shot in the back and killed by a bartend-er/owner in his town. It is a small town and the killer was a former mayor there. He was not just acquitted, but his gun wasn’t registered and there were no re-percussions, even for that. My cousin was 23 years old. It was shocking and tragic for his family and friends to see that the bar owner’s business was closed for the single day of the trial, and that was the extent of his punishment. The further offense was that my cousin wasn’t even his intended victim. That young man had committed the terrible crime of backing out of a deal to sell some rare coins. The sadness never goes away, nor does the disappointment in our legal system.

—Barbara, Naperville, IL

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Manetric, Indianapolis, IN

My life has been impacted negatively by guns. My blind cousin’s home was robbed and he was shot to death by the person(s) committing the crime. That re-ally hurt that it wasn’t enough for them to rob him but they had to take his life. He was no threat and couldn’t even identify his assailant(s).

Two of my friends lost their younger brothers to gun/gang violence although they were not in a gang. Their lives were taken from them in a horrendous fashion. No mother, father, sister, brother, friends, nieces, neph-ews or cousins should have to endure that again. We, as Americans, need to band together for the greater good of our burgeoning society. We do not want to become the wild wild west again so that means we all have to lose a little of our freedoms, meaning the right to certain guns and ammo that we can legally have, to protect our future. Without our kids we have no future.

Claudia, Lexington, MA

My nephew was killed at 13 by a gun another 13 year old stole from his brother. The boys did not mean it but guns in the home cause death.

Sarah, Baltimore, MD

My friend, an elementary school teacher, was returning to her home after a long day at school. It was dark. She had to stay late for a P.T.A. meeting and she was doubt-lessly tired and preoccupied with getting her briefcase and school materials out of the trunk of her car. She never heard the two thugs come up behind her. Money was what they wanted. They didn’t get any...but they took her life anyway. A gunshot deprived two little girls of their mother. Their only source of support and love. This happened many years ago. The two “juveniles” have long-since been released from jail and returned to the streets. Lucky us.

G, Detroit, MI

I am teacher. I have taught at-risk youth for over 15 yeas, including four years in a juvenile detention facility. The gun violence in this country is unspeakable. I have lost count of the children I have lost to gun violence. In schools, on the streets, in stores, in homes. It is every-where. I dare lawmakers to walk a day in the shoes of the people who actually deal with gun violence every-day. I would bet that after just that one day, they would run back to DC and pass every piece of gun legislation possible. I dare lawmakers to look into the faces of the families who have lost children to gun violence, and tell them guns are just a part of the American way of life. NOT ONE MORE !!

Rebecca, Detroit, MI

My great niece, Kathryn was shot twice, once while she was jumping rope in front of her house on Chicago’s South Side. The bullet lodged in her ankle. Just before she was to graduate, she and some friends were on the front porch, laughing and talking as teenagers do on a warm May evening. Her mom, my niece, called her and asked that she come home. Kathryn bent over to pick up her keys form the porch floor and as she came back up the bullets struck her. She died from multiple gun-shot wounds. The cowardly, drive-by shooters claimed that they were not shooting at her! Come to find out the person that they had targeted was not in the group on the porch that night!

Karen, St. Paul, MN

In 2005, my daughter’s friend, age 21, a college student driving a souped-up car, was car jacked and shot in the abdomen with a 35mm bullet. He survived and has dis-ability and chronic pain. In 2009, my son was sitting on a church park bench in a nice area of town late at night and realized his arm hurt, and discovered he’d been shot in the mid-forearm with the 9 mm bullet exiting his elbow. He has a pin in it and nerve damage to his fingers. In 2012, a friend of my daughter was driving her car, pulled up to talk to a friend and another young man, his friend leaned into the car and a shooter walked down the street and shot a number of times at the two men outside the vehicle. The friend that leaned in is paralyzed for life from the waist down. If my daughter had been in her car with my grandson, it is certain they would have been dead or seriously wounded from the number of bullets that were in the car doors, windows. The local grocery store was robbed at gunpoint and the perpetrator was shot and killed by the police. Someone driving down a busy street at noon last year - leaned out and aimed two shots at the car in front of them. This is all in the noble capital city of our state a few miles from the capitol or a few blocks from the governor’s mansion. The stories aren’t just about who is killed, they are also about who was permanently injured, disabled, in chron-ic pain, and whose lives are forever changed by a bullet - even if they are alive. Yes, you can live with disability - many disabilities are as a result of nature - the ones that are hard to understand are those ones caused at the hand of a person with a gun. Enough is enough.

Joan, Duluth, MN

Just over 20 years ago, my sister, Barbara Lund, was shot and killed by her estranged husband during a contentious divorce. He shot her 3 times and shot her friend, a man who she was dating after waiting for over 3 years for the divorce to take place. They had gone to my brother-in-law’s house to deliver papers to him.

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She never got to meet her grandchildren. She was not at either of my children’s weddings. We have lived for all these years around the hole created by her shoot-ing. The grief never goes away. I have been working since 2000 when I went to the first Million Mom March, on common sense gun laws. I am very active in my city and in the state of Minnesota as well as nationally. I have organized. I have testified. I have spoken at fo-rums and in public places. We have the only Memorial Bell Garden dedicated to victims of gun violence, in the country and we have had way too many bell ringings in memory of victims. And I now serve on the Board of the Brady Campaign.

With every new shooting, the memory of the day my family was informed of my sister’s shooting, comes back.

Cheryl, St. Louis, MO

My brother, visiting St. Louis from Florida, went to a church choir rehearsal. When he lived in St. Louis, he was the minister of music at the church. After the re-hearsal, he went to visit the grandmother of one of the choir members—that grandmother had been one of his great encouragers in his ministry. A young man, jealous of my brother’s relationship with the family of the grandmother, commissioned two young men to hi-jack my brother’s car. They took him to an alley, shot him six times and left him for dead! By the grace of God, a youngster heard the gun shots, called to his mother and they got help for my brother. One of the gun shots, blew off a portion of my brothers thumb - devastating for a pianist. Doctors were able to graft bone, tissue and skin so he is able to play so he’s able to practice his gift and craft but for two years he was unable to support his family while he recuperated - he had to rely on the family and government until he was back on his feet.

John, St. Louis, MO

I was held up in 2005. A gun would have done nothing for me. I ran from the assailant. He did not shoot. I want all guns banned and I will never use a gun or own one.

Kaaren, Durham, NC

I published these stories to my FB page in February and I received 22 comments and 7 more people with 1-3 stories of gun violence in their lives.

‘My own stories: 1988 Convertible driver waves gun at me for believing I cut him off on Fla. highway (called 911--police said they can’t do anything until he hurts someone); husband held up at gunpoint at gas station Chapel Hill 1994; Missed rendezvous with husband in Chapel Hill Jan 1995 when Wendell Williamson began shooting on Henderson St, killing 2 injuring others; Durham acquaintance and parent of 5 young children commits suicide by gun 2007; 2008 UNC student body president Eve Carson murdered on my old street in Chapel Hill. ‘

For every person, there is likely more than one story about connections to gun violence. For every person, there are likely 5 more.

Judy, Manlius, NY

A girlfriend of mine at one time was married to an abuser. When he got drunk, which was often, he got out his gun and threatened her with it. He beat her up, and because of the gun she was too scared to resist anything he did to her. Once, I took her to the emer-gency room in the middle of the night after he dragged her face down up and down in the street. Ironically, his own warped obsession with the power of his gun de-veloped after he accidentally killed his best friend in high school with it. Every gun warps, maims, and kills people. Over and over.

Kathy, Buffalo, NY

I work at an inner-city mental health clinic and have sev-eral clients who are there for depression due to losing children to gun violence. One woman has lost 2 sons at 2 different incidents. She struggles with anniversaries of their deaths, with their birthdays and with all holi-days, besides her daily struggle to try and understand how this could happen.

FOR EVERY PeRsoN there is likely more than oNe stoRy

ABOUT connections to

GuN VIoleNCe.—Kaaren, Durham, NC

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Joseph, Greene, NY

I have no story. I don’t need a “story” to express my dismay at the lack of laws to stop military armaments for civilian citizens with endless rounds of ammo. The very idea is repugnant. I am a Veteran of WWII ETO/PTO theaters. I know arms. I have nothing against hunt-ing or sports guns, but nobody needs military items in an America already loaded with more guns than the population. They should be banned. No exception be-yond legitimate police work.

Dee, OH

A young member of my congregation killed himself two years ago. When he returned from Afghanistan, he suffered from PTSD, was not able to find a job, had trouble fitting into civilian society, became depressed and began to use drugs. He obtained his gun legally, but I don’t think he would have killed himself if he had not had the means so readily available. He was strug-gling, but killing himself was clearly an impulsive act.

Thomas, Oklahoma City, OK

A family member is diagnosed with paranoid schizo-phrenia with psychosis. He has a good paying job he has held for over twenty years. He went off his anti-psy-chotic medication after his wife died several years ago and he began having paranoid delusions of persecu-tion. At one point he was napping on our couch with a loaded .45 under the pillow in case anyone came to the door. The people he was afraid of did not exist. I had spent a month trying to track down his stories before I realized they were all in his head. On checking, I found three other hand guns as well as an AK-47 with a high capacity clip and hollow point, cop-killer bullets. He was prepared to shoot anyone who might come to our door. I sold his guns and told him he had no business being around guns, but there is nothing stopping him from buying the same arsenal again if he stops taking his medication, and no one would know. There is noth-ing more anyone can do about it.

Melanie, Eugene, OR

She was 16, a sophomore in high school, vivacious, with a contagious laugh. After school, in the wrong place at the wrong time, she became the victim of one youth’s anger against another. One boy was armed and one girl was killed. She wasn’t the target, but she was the victim. Thursday, March 6, 1986, Betsy Chasko died. She was my best friend and her death still haunts me. I think about her year after year, wondering where she would be living now, what her kids would look like, if she would still love all things green. Now that I have my own children, I can’t even imagine the pain her par-ents endured at the loss of their daughter. And I worry. I worry about my children’s safety, about all children’s safety. Please do more to regulate guns.

Baldr , Eugene, OR

In 1990, I was 18 and went to the mall to pick up a friend. Two boys I didn’t know were arguing in the park-ing lot, surrounded by other teens who were watching and waiting for a fight. I moved in close to see what was happening, when one boy, age 16, pulled a gun and shot the other, age 18, in the head, killing him. The younger one fled. I tried to feel the pulse of the victim. He died as I held him. I chased down the shooter, and scared him back to the scene, where he was arrested.

Danielle, Cranberry Township, PA

When I was in my early 20s, we lost our good friend Danny Little when he was shot to death at a party by another party-goer who had gotten into a fight and been kicked out of the party. He came back with a handgun and shot Danny when Danny tried to be the peace-maker. That was almost 30 years ago, and I still miss Danny. If that other party-goer hadn’t had such easy access to a loaded gun, Danny might still be with us today.

Claire, Media, PA

My good friend had been battling bipolar disorder which manifested itself just a few years ago. She de-veloped some schizophrenia and was on medication which led her to buy a gun and shoot herself in her car, leaving her 3 elementary aged children alone with their dad. It’s such a horrible tragedy. If background checks were required, she would not have been able to buy the gun. She had been admitted to mental health clin-ics numerous times and her medication was known to have suicide as potential side effects. She was not left alone to deal with her illness, in fact she told her hus-band that she was running out to get gas. But it was all planned. Such a horrible horrible preventable tragedy. PASS GUN CONTROL LAWS AND SAVE MORE MEN-TALLY ILL PEOPLE LIKE MY GOOD FRIEND and their families from the tragedy of suicide. Guns make it too easy! Statistics show that most gun related deaths are from suicide!

Mary, Columbia, SC

I could tell of several family members, but I prefer to tell of my experiences.

When I was seven years of age, a large group of kids including myself were playing in front of the home in which I lived. We were playing tag and riding bicycles in the street, when right across the street in our pres-ence, the ex- spouse of the lady that lived across the street, opened fire on the family, killing the lady, her mother and her brother. Then the man stood there with the gun in his hand. This image has never left my memory and has a lot to do with my views on having

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laws in place to remove, ban and take weapons out of our communities. It was later told to me, that the man purchased the weapon a couple days prior to killing this family from a pawn shop around the corner.

If there were stronger laws in place, it could have changed everything. All of the children that played in the street that day with me, still remember this crime like it was just yesterday. Scars are forever, prevention protects. A life saved is precious and value, this could have been anyone’s story. We all have a history with crime related to weapons. Protect our future.

Beth, Spring Hill, TN

My son suffered from moderate depression and 20 years ago in February of 1993 he used my husband’s shot gun to kill himself. He was on a waiting list at the local public counseling center for talk therapy. I know he had been very down before but with counseling he would always get better. I grieve for him everyday. If there had not been a gun in my house I know I could have gotten him counseling and he would have gotten better. He had just mailed in 5 applications for gradu-ate school the day before. He just had a bad sleep-less night and wrote a note to his father and me on his computer and took the shot gun from the downstairs closet, locked himself in his room and put the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger. He was a gifted writer and had many friends but sometimes in the middle of the night depression can make someone want to end their life right then. If there is a gun available to them there is no second chance. They kill with certainty.

Kim, Hardin, TX

At 8 am on May 4, 2011, at my home in Wisconsin, my phone rang and my world changed forever. When I answered, a man’s voice asked me if I was the moth-er of Kami Hernandez ... I told him yes, and my heart seemed to stop beating at that moment. He then told me his name ... I don’t remember it now ... and said he was with the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office in Houston, and that he was very sorry, but my beautiful, 26 year-old firstborn daughter was “deceased.”

From that horrible phone call, I remember screaming, “no, no, no” and looking up to see my younger daugh-ter, Kami’s sister, Kristin, now in the room, with fear and confusion on her face. He told me more about what happened, but I remember little else about what he said. I only remember screaming.

Through subsequent phone calls that morning, and with the help of friends, I learned that at 10:34 pm the night before, police started receiving calls to 911 about gunshots coming from my daughter’s home in King-wood, north of Houston. A nice, middle to upper class neighborhood, an area where “these things” aren’t supposed to happen.

When HPD (Kingwood was annexed some years earlier to the City of Houston) arrived just minutes later, and after receiving no response when they knocked on the door, they entered the unlocked front door.

First, they found Kami’s boyfriend, Eric Collier, on the sofa in the living room, a handgun next to him. He had shot himself in the head.

To their left, near the kitchen, my beautiful daughter was laying on the floor, with “multiple gunshots to her back and lower extremities.” Those are the words told to me by the homicide investigators. A pump action, 12 gauge shotgun lay on the floor next to her. They told me she likely died nearly instantly, and that the lower half of her body was basically obliterated. She was run-ning away from him, just a few feet from two different exits, when Eric murdered her.

Kami had turned 26 just 4 weeks before she was mur-dered by someone she loved. She had just moved into what she described to me as her “dream house.” Thankfully, her then eight year-old son, of whom she shared custody with her ex-husband, was at his dad’s house that night.

Eric suffered from mental illness, and Kami had told me just a few days before that his personality had changed, and she discovered he had stopped taking his meds. She said they had discussed going to counseling and

My nephew was attending a birthday party in VA when two uninvited guests appeared. They were asked to leave but returned shortly after with two friends. They proceeded to argue about not be-ing allowed in when suddenly one pulled a gun. While trying to diffuse the situa-tion and calm things down, he was shot. All guns begin their journey legally. Gun owners and sellers need to be held re-sponsible for their lack of background checking and safe storage. Why do we hold bar owners responsible for drunk driver accidents but completely ignore responsibility when selling weapons designed to kill?

—Donna, Ft Worth, TX

he agreed. She had been in an abusive relationship be-fore and wanted to “nip this in the bud” before things escalated. She assured me that she had the situation under control, and that she would be okay.

I only learned later that she was more afraid than what she shared with me. She didn’t want me to worry.

Kami, herself, had been diagnosed as bipolar at the age of 14, and more recently with borderline person-ality disorder. She took her meds faithfully, and had told me that one of the things she loved about Eric is that he understood her issues, and didn’t judge her because of her illness.

Kami had previously been hospitalized on at least two occasions due to suicidal tendencies. Despite both of their well-documented mental illness, both Kami and Eric were able to easily purchase and own several weap-ons. Kami had bought her first gun ... a .380 handgun ... in December 2010. She applied for a CHL because she did not feel safe in the neighborhood where she worked. She started going to a gun range, where Eric taught her to shoot and safely handle various firearms, including the shotgun he used to kill her that night.

My child did everything “right,” according to the law, and she is still dead. Her son, my grandson, is now 10 years old and has undergone intensive therapy for nearly two years since his mother’s murder. He has to take strong anxiety medications daily. He is doing a little better, thanks to his wonderful and loving step-mother and dad, and their support.

Eric wasn’t a “bad guy.” He wasn’t a criminal. He was nice looking, he worked hard, drove a nice car ... the proverbial guy next door. He was someone’s son, someone’s brother.

Had more stringent background checks been law, in-cluding a mental health database, neither he nor my daughter should have been able to purchase a gun. Chances are great that, had they been unable to pur-chase them legally, neither would have broken the law to obtain them.

If Eric had tried to kill Kami with any other, more per-sonal weapon, whether with his hands, a knife, a club or other object, she would probably have had a chance to escape. As I said earlier, she was only steps from two different exits. She could not outrun that shotgun.

While universal background checks will not save every-one, they can and will save some. It is common sense. And even a single life would be worth saving.

I just want to save other parents from receiving that awful, heartbreaking phone call.

Tonya, Woodbridge, VA

Back in 2000, my brother was shot and killed by a young man his age (22) due to a fist fight that the young man lost to my brother. After the fight, the young man told my brother that he was gonna kill him. He threaten my brother, stalked him and carried it out. He shot and killed my brother while my brother was standing and talking with someone. The young man came from be-hind my brother and shot him in the back of the head. He left my brother’s unborn (twins) without a father. He left my mother (who is still grieving) broken hearted. He left all of my brother’s loved ones still devastated and trying to get over his sudden death. People are using guns as if they have a ‘LICENSE TO KILL.’ Please get rid of them.

Faith, Stanwood, WA

In August 2006, we awoke to the smell of gunpowder in our home. We had been attacked by 2 shooters, who were at the wrong house. An automatic gun shot an entire round into our home in a very short period of time. Luckily, no one in out family was injured, but we are scarred for life. Automatic guns have no place towns and cities, and background checks are absolute-ly necessary. We need to stop being scared of the NRA and realize the repercussions of their dollars on Con-gress. We need to make Congress aware of the harm they inflict on the people they should be representing, instead of cowering to the NRA.