By Sharon Gordon
Published January 2013
Editor’s note: Ms. Gordon wrote this op-ed in 1999, which is when it appeared in The Jewish Voice and Opinion, shortly after a JCC in Los Angeles was attacked by an antisemitic gunman who came looking for blood.
I am a Jewish mother whose child attends a Jewish day school in New Jersey. When I first heard about the carnage in Los Angeles at the Jewish center, I thought that it could have been my child. Along with the rest of the country, I am horrified at the attempted massacre by the neo-Nazi monster Buford Furrow. Unfortunately, this type of violence is hardly a rarity nowadays.
Much attention is paid to the notion that such horrors can be prevented, primarily by eliminating the tools of destruction. Certainly, keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous madmen is one important step. Background checks on gun sales provide that safeguard. Had Mr. Furrow tried to buy a gun through legal methods, he would have been justifiably denied.
Unfortunately, homicidal maniacs rarely concern themselves with legal niceties. They obtain their guns through illegal methods. We must accept the reality that such people live in this country, plotting episodes of destruction and mayhem against not only Jews, but Christians and athletes (Columbine), whites (Long Island Railroad), blacks (Howard Beach), Mormons (Salt Lake City) and financial workers (Atlanta). There is no telling where the next tragedy will strike.
Protecting the Children
We must protect our children; all our children. My solution may not be a popular one, but it is a real one, a practical one, dealing with the reality of the madness that more and more evil people are acting out today.
The solution is clear, yet it is a politically difficult one. [click to continue…]
