Whatever it takes to prevent gun violence
Last Wednesday morning, as my wife Sandy and I were getting ready to head over to the Arapahoe County Justice Center for the final day of the trial of the mass murderer who killed our daughter, Jessica Ghawi, in the Aurora theater shooting three years ago, my Twitter feed exploded with news of yet another shooting. Two young journalists, gunned down on live television. Tears filled my wife’s eyes, and then mine. What has this country become when you can’t go to work in the morning and come home to the person you love at the end of the day?
As we learned more about the tragic shooting, the similarities were so strong that our hearts broke even more. Alison Parker was a 24-year-old journalist, just like Jessi. Same age, same profession, same vivacious smile, same passion for life. They even shared the same favorite color.
We watched the news reports, saw the photos. Beautiful Alison with her father, Alison at the news station, Alison kayaking, Alison doing all of the things she loved. They are the same types of photos that have been shown on air of our beautiful daughter since her death.
The day after Alison’s murder, I joined her father, Andy Parker, on a live news segment, along with Richard Martinez, the father of Christopher MichaelsMartinez, who was gunned down while buying a sandwich in a deli in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2013. Three fathers with the same grief, forced to live with a hole in our hearts and a lifetime of pain.
I met Martinez under similar circumstances in Isla Vista immediately following his son’s death. Sandy and I flew out to California to give him comfort, support and to stand with him in his proclamation that “Not One More” life should be taken by senseless gun violence.
Today we stand with Andy Parker. On national television, on the very day of his daughter’s murder, he spoke out courageously and with the same passion we saw in Martinez. He said, “Mark my words, my mission in life is to do something, whatever it takes, to get gun legislation.”
We are taking his words to heart, and next week we are taking them to Washington, proclaiming them in communities across the country, and taking to the Internet to demand that political leaders take action to prevent gun violence. On Sept. 10, after Congress returns from its recess, we will join hundreds of survivors and advocates, with Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, to demand Congress do “Whatever it Takes” to fix our country’s broken gun laws.
Like Andy Parker, I’m for the Second Amendment, but agree wholeheartedly that “there has to be a way to force politicians who are cowards in the pockets of the NRA to make sensible laws to make sure crazy people can’t get guns.”
Since the murder of our daughter Jessi, we have traveled from coast to coast speaking with legislators, testifying in front of committees, and raising awareness about the lax gun laws in this country. We’ve seen states like Colorado take action to pass common-sense gun laws like requiring a simple background check on all gun sales to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. It’s time the American people say enough is enough and demand Congress enact laws that protect our citizens, not gun-lobby profits. Our lawmakers work for us. It’s time they started showing it. And if we can’t count on them to lead, then we must vote them out and replace them with lawmakers who will.
As one chapter in our life closes, another one begins. Our close-knit community of gun violence survivors welcomes yet another member to this club no one ever wants to join. We hope that in the days ahead we can provide some comfort and support, a sense of true understanding from those of us who have walked in the very same shoes, and above all else a renewed resolve to hold Congress accountable for their pathetic inaction. I know we will walk together as we take Andy Parker’s message to Congress and to state legislatures around the country: We will do whatever it
takes.