To the editor:

The voice of a Sandy Hook parent is getting me to the polls next Tuesday.

On Dec. 14, 2012, and for many months to follow, I could not bear to watch the news or read the papers. 

The community of Sandy Hook was too similar to my community; the elementary school children were the same age as my three kids at Nayatt School. 

When Mark Barden, one of the Sandy Hook parents, came to speak in Barrington in Feb. 2014, I was ready to listen. Mark spoke about being just like us, hearing about school shootings and workplace shootings on the news, again and again. And then it happened to his own family.  

It took the death of his son for him to become engaged. He spoke of regret about not being involved sooner, and his new, life-long commitment to gun violence prevention in honor of his son. He made the compelling point that things change when the average American becomes engaged in an issue; at that point we outnumber the special interest groups and anything is possible.

Next Tuesday, I will engage.  

The five minutes I take out of my day to go vote in the primaries will help replace my current Democratic state representative (Jan Malik; NRA rating A+) with a representative who is committed to gun violence prevention. 

The outcome of the general election hinges on the primary; there is no Republican running for this seat. If people like me and you, across America, vote in our local elections in order to change the current gun laws, they will change.  

Let’s not wait until gun violence strikes our own families. Please go vote on Tuesday, even if you don’t usually vote in the primaries. This one is important. We are not helpless in the face of the gun lobbyists; we outnumber them. I’ll be voting for Jason Knight.  

Lisa Denny, MD

Barrington