Submitted by Hector Arzeno, Democratic candidate for Connecticut House district 151
Once again, we are in shock. Once again, parents will end a day bereft. Once again, our country will mourn young lives, senselessly snuffed out. How much more must we endure before we take action to reduce the glut of guns in our midst?
Reports from Texas say that 18 elementary school children were mercilessly gunned down in their own school building. It’s been scarcely a week since residents of Buffalo, New York endured the same pain and horor at their neighborhood grocery store.
Our hearts are broken again for all the families in Texas, as well as in New York, and everywhere in America, as the availability of guns has made such appalling violence almost normal.
Here in Connecticut, we will never be the same. After Sandy Hook Elementary school endured its own deadly tragedy, our General Assembly passed a major gun-control bill with broad bipartisan support. And yet, once again, we must ask what can we do as a society to prevent this from happening once again?
I say that we are not doing enough. If elected in November, I pledge my support for any legislation that expands our state ban on the use of assault weapons, increases background checks, and limits the availability of weapons. Moreover, Connecticut cannot do this alone. We need federal action too, because the gun trade doesn’t respect state lines.
Enough is enough. We cannot allow this to happen again.