Letter: Moms stage gun event to urge common sense

Thanks for covering the vigil held in honor of Dominique Williams.

I suggest one important clarification. This was not a "gun-control" rally. Words and the choice of words make a huge impact.

This event was part of a nationwide Day of Action, when gun violence and the inability and/or unwillingness of our political leaders to take action to end the crisis of senseless loss of life was challenged.

Simple, common-sense actions could be taken, such as requiring background checks and closing loopholes that make it too easy for dangerous people to get guns. Gun violence kills 88 Americans every day and injures hundreds more.

Two of those individuals are featured in the Sept. 11 Packet -- Dominique Williams and Rhashard Spikes.

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America sponsored this event to honor Dominique, to support his family and to remember the deadly recent shootings on live TV, at a movie theater in Louisiana, at a church in Charleston, at a military recruitment center and in Coligny Beach Park on Hilton Head Island.

We must work together, not to trample anyone's Second Amendment rights, not to "control" the rights of responsible gun owners, but to ensure that the right to life is not lost when the wrong people get guns for the wrong reasons.

We all have a stake in this, gun owners and non-gun owners alike. We must do this for the love of family, the love of community and the respect for common sense.

Diana Heitman

Bluffton

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Letter: Moms stage gun event to urge common sense."