Letter: Together, we can disarm hate

Posted 6/22/17

To the editor:

This month our country is marking two of America’s most painful tragedies: The one-year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando and the two-year anniversary of …

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Letter: Together, we can disarm hate

Posted

To the editor:

This month our country is marking two of America’s most painful tragedies: The one-year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando and the two-year anniversary of the Charleston shooting. 

If you thought hate crimes involving a firearm like the shootings in Orlando or Charleston were an anomaly in our country, think again. Easy access to firearms results in about 8,000 hate crimes with a gun every year in our country — which is about 20 per day. 

Citizens of color, religious minorities, and other marginalized groups are those who are most often targeted by hate. And when this hate is armed, the results can be deadly and devastate entire communities.  

As a proud American I demand to live in a country where all its citizens can be safe no matter the color of their skin, the people they love, or their beliefs of faith. The time is now to disarm hate. 

Thank our Congressman, David Cicilline, for introducing the “Hate Crime Act,” which would prohibit those convicted of violent hate crimes from being able to own or purchase a firearm. Join Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense America to help make our community safe from gun violence. 

I believe that together we can disarm hate.  

Amy Herlihy

Barrington

Ms. Herlihy is a volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

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