“When will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby?”
On the second anniversary of the Tucson, Arizona shooting, that left her 9-year-old daughter, Christina-Taylor Green dead, Roxanna Green, asks the question in an ad for demandaplan.org—a group formed to end gun violence.
Christina-Taylor and 5 others were killed, and 13 others, including former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, were injured after a gunman opened fire at a congressional event in a neighborhood supermarket.
Green believes the shooting in Newton, Conn. will help bring a change in gun laws.
“The president has already met with Vice President Biden and they’re working on a plan and I’m confident that something can be done,” she told Chris Jansing on msnbc’s Jansing & Co, Tuesday morning.
Since that shooting, there have been 11 mass shootings in America.
“My husband and I are gun owners and we do believe in the Second Amendment. We just want sensible gun control”, Green said. “We want to come up with a plan where everyone is required to have a background check. Military style weapons do not have to be owned by the average person. We have to come up with a mental health care plan.”
Green said that she disagrees with NRA chief Wayne LaPierre’s proposal to have armed guards in schools.
“I think that’s ridiculous,” she says. “It will bring fear to the children and teachers if armed guards are brought in.”
This two-year anniversary hits home with those left behind. Green said that she believes Christina-Taylor is in heaven with her grandmother and great-grandmother and that gives her strength to carry on. Her loss has propelled her to work on behalf of victims of gun violence.
“I’m gonna make sure that Christina-Taylor did not die in vain. I’m in this for the long haul,” she told Jansing. “Christina wanted this country to be as good as she imagined it to be and I’m going fight with my friends and family to make sure this country is as good as she imagined.”
Aparna Zalani