Our children are watching.
It’s time to take action on gun control.
Over the last couple of weeks, I???ve been talking a lot about what happened in Florida with my kids, and particularly my daughter. She???s going to be a freshman in high school next year ??? not much younger than the kids we???ve been watching on TV.
Every time we talk about it, Ceci cuts me off and says, ???Mom, what are you going to do? Why hasn???t anyone done anything???
Ceci was in third grade when the Sandy Hook shooting took place ??? not much older than the kids who were killed that day. In the five years since, there have been 63 school shootings and more than 1,600 mass shootings across our country, including the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people, the First Baptist Church shooting in Sutherland Springs that killed 26 people and the shooting in Las Vegas last fall that killed 58 people.
Since I???ve been Governor, I???ve ordered the flags to half-staff nine times because of a mass shooting. Nine times.
So, I can understand where the question comes from: ???Mom, what are you going to do????
Ceci, Tommy and their friends have grown up hearing news stories and watching reports about mass shootings in schools, malls, movie theaters, churches and concerts. We had fire drills when we were kids. They have active shooter drills. And after each and every one of these shootings, they watch Congress do nothing.
So, when she says, ???Mom, what are you going to do????, it???s not really a question. It???s a directive. She???s saying to me: ???If they won???t act, you need to.???
I???m proud that Rhode Island has some of the nation???s strongest gun laws. But our nation has some of the weakest. Last year, we took a step to make them a little stronger when we came together and passed a new law that takes guns out of the hands of abusers.
But we need to do more. We need to keep going. We can???t sit around another minute waiting for Congress to act.
This week, I took executive action to immediately establish a Red Flag policy that sets the stage for a complementary legislative effort.
I applaud our leaders in the legislature for taking action and urge the General Assembly to pass those bills, as introduced, quickly. Rhode Islanders need this to be law. ??
Let me also be clear that this cannot be the only reform we put in place this year. I fully support legislation introduced in the General Assembly this week to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. These are weapons that belong in the military???not in our schools or on our streets.
For weeks, I???ve said a prayer for the kids and parents in Parkland before going to bed. And I???ve said a prayer for Ceci and Tommy and their friends. At moments like this we need prayers. ??? But we also need action.