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“He’s Just A Child…..”

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The guests on this weeks Moyers and Company are Francine and David Wheeler, and the topic is The Sandy Hook Promise. At the end of this segment Francine Wheeler and Dar Williams sing “Family”…I’m still blinking tears.



http://youtu.be/sOlSZeI457A

Francine Wheeler and Peter Yarrow discuss with Bill the power of music to create change, and their mission to protect children and adults from gun violence in communities across America. We also see excerpts from the concert, soon to appear on many public television stations. Later, the conversation continues as David Wheeler joins his wife to talk about what can be done and if the gun issue can be addressed in a way that includes diverse viewpoints and bypasses partisan brinkmanship.



http://youtu.be/ga3wD34_03w

The full transcript can be read by clicking the link under the video on Moyers’ website. David Wheeler’s words will stay with me……

Don’t stop talking about it among yourselves, among your family, among your community. Whether that’s your community of faith or your town or your city or your state, on the national stage. Do not think that this problem will go away. Because it won’t. It hasn’t in the four months since we lost our son, and it’s not going away any time soon. It is an enormous problem.

So contact your elected representatives and if they don’t give you satisfactory answers, then allow them to understand the expression of political will in its most democratic sense. Someone in Washington told me, a senator said, “There has to be something worth going home over. There has to be a vote that you know in your heart is worth going home over.” So on the most basic level as citizens, let your elected representatives know what vote you think is worth going home over.

The website has other links, including an interesting discussion with several musicians re the power of music to create social change. Moyers And Company: The Sandy Hook Promise


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/ 24 Comments

24 comments

  1. princesspat

    ….was moving, inspiring and informative. I hope you find it the same, and will share with others if you do.  

  2. JanF

    David Wheeler’s words could not be more true:

    Do not think that this problem will go away. Because it won’t.

    In our ADD political world, many people have already moved on to the next new issue. But this issue, gun safety legislation, must not be set aside while we wait for the next Sandy Hook … the next “last straw” … the next set of images of grieving parents.

  4. DavidW

    A six-year-old Florida girl was in critical condition Sunday after being shot by her 13-year-old brother Saturday night in a city just north of Fort Lauderdale.

    Neighbors said the two children were playing a game when the shooting occurred shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday in Oakland Park, a city in Broward Country.

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_new…

  5. JanF

    More Than 3,300 Gun Deaths Since Newtown; Faith Leaders Say ‘Enough’

    Today, on the National Mall, I stood with fellow faith leaders, including clergy from Newtown, to remember lives lost at Sandy Hook elementary school and the 3,364 gun deaths that have happened since.

    We stood in front of a field of crosses, Stars of David, and other grave markers, and it broke my heart to think that each one stood for a life ended too soon. It doesn’t have to be this way. Commonsense steps to reduce gun violence are within our reach. Just today the Senate voted to begin the debate. But there is much work to do. Lawmakers need to hear from you.  

    People of faith are not just praying but promoting action.

    Today we plant crosses, Stars of David, and other religious symbols. Today we pray. Today we speak to our members of Congress. And one day we will make our country safer – all it takes is coming together together for the common good.

  7. princesspat

    But here is the link to the songs the Wheelers sing…..

    Francine Wheeler and Dar Williams sing “Family”

    The Wheelers, Peter Yarrow and others sing “Blowing in the Wind”

    http://billmoyers.com/…

    The power of music to effect social change has always been interesting to me. I find these videos to be very moving.

  8. Jim in IA

    Their mouthpiece spokespersons shield them from exposure and blunt the attacks on their business. I believe we need the same styles of aggressive legislation to regulate firearm manufacturing as we saw to regulate cigarette and tobacco products.

    You can still buy and use tobacco products. You would still be able to buy and use certain gun products. But, they need to be registered, checked, and traced.

    We don’t need weapons to kill masses of people. We don’t need unlimited quantities of ammo. We need to track the sources and where it goes. We do it for fertilizer, cars, and many other potentially deadly things. But, I understand that logic and the common good are not the deciding factors in this fight.

  9. JanF

    Background Checks are Key to Gun Safety

    We reached a consensus in this country back in 1993 when we enacted the Brady Bill that a background check is a reasonable requirement to impose on an individual who walks into a gun store to purchase a firearm. These checks take just a few minutes. All we are seeking to do now is to expand that requirement to people who shop for guns at other venues such as gun shows, through classified ads and over the Internet.

    Two U.S. senators with sterling NRA records, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, have written legislation that would do just that. We fell short on our first effort to pass Manchin-Toomey in the Senate, but we will not be deterred by one setback. We have an obligation to make sure that the voices of victims, not the voice of the NRA, ring the loudest in this debate.  

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