Submitted by Janet Stone McGuigan, Greenwich Selectperson
Memorial Day is almost here. After I write this letter I will help I will help scouts plant flags on the grave markers of Greenwich veterans, my father-in-law’s included. But first in this letter I will remember my father and uncle, also veterans.
Once again our nation is mourning yet another senseless school shooting. What is the connection between a school shooting and the veterans I held dear? My dad and his twin, and many of the men in their family, enjoyed fishing and hunting. I cried uncontrollably after watching Disney’s Bambi and my loving father never went deer hunting again. But my association with hunters and hunting didn’t end. I grew up knowing there was a shotgun in my house. I can assure readers it was safely stored. And I am glad to say the gun owners I knew saw no contradiction between gun ownership and sensible gun laws.
Needless to say, I am a strong supporter of strict gun laws and gun violence prevention measures. Ironically I have been working on my orange wardrobe to wear my support for National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2. Orange is the color hunters wear to be safe. Our national safety is paramount.
Also ironically – or is it? – the day before the shooting I attended a Town Hall training for a hypothetical active shooting, and it was pointed out that sadly we can recall the names of shooters but have trouble remembering the names of the victims. This Memorial Day, I ask our nation’s Editors to help us know and honor the lives that ended too soon and those that are forever changed by this tragedy, and give no limelight to the shooter. May orange be the new black.