To the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, Powderhorn Outdoor Sports Center, Black Dog Guns and Shooting Supplies, Paul Dame and Marsha J. Thompson, named plaintiffs in the recently filed federal complaint seeking a declaration that Vermont’s ban of high-capacity magazine firearms is “arbitrary” and the waiting period for firearm purchase “purposeless,” I ask you the preeminent questions of my generation:
How many children need to die in the sanctuary of their schools before you declare victory in your campaign for unrestricted access to firearms?
How many tiny, precious bodies need to be torn apart before you look down and notice the blood under your fingernails as you scratch and pick away at this legislation?
How many Vermonters must our brave little state lose to the catastrophic violence of suicide by firearm before you find your peace in the 72-hour waiting period?
And why must I forsake my own peace from the violence of firearms for your right to own a weapon, in case you need to inflict that violence on someone else? If bullets are the currency of your felt sense of safety within this community, then we have failed you. And for that, I am deeply sorry.
Stacey Skadberg
Middlesex
