Just heard from Rand Paul...
Thank you for contacting me regarding the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. My thoughts and prayers are with the children, parents, teachers and community as they mourn this tragic loss of life.
After such a senseless act of violence, the power of prayer and the kindness of friends, family, and neighbors near and far provides solace and strength to the community. I hope we can learn more about what warning signs were missed and how we can better prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future. However, I do not believe we should rush to point fingers or enact reactionary legislation curtailing Second Amendment rights. No amount of gun control will be able to prevent mentally disturbed individuals from committing despicable acts of violence. High-risk individuals will still be able to acquire firearms and other lethal weapons, even with an increase in prevention. Please be assured I will oppose any proposed gun control law which would limit the right to gun ownership by those who are responsible, law-abiding citizens, and that I will continue to defend Americans' Second Amendment rights in the Senate.
Once more, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance in the future. I look forward to hearing from you again.
Sincerely,
Rand Paul, MD
United States Senator
I received the SAME response. I received an official letter from Mr. McConnell, which read as follows:
"As you may know, the recent massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has left our nation reeling as so many innocent, young children filled with spirit and joy were targeted by a deranged individual. There is no escaping the fact that the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary stands out for its awfulness. The murder of so many little children and the adults who tried to save them does not just break our hearts, it shatters them. I join the entire Congress in condemning this horrifying act of violence, and extending my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of this darkest of tragedies.
As we reflect, it is important to note the complexity of this tragedy and to make sure these horrific events are not exploited for political purposes. As you are aware, this tragedy has provoked a renewed vigor to examine our nation's firearms laws, school security arrangements, and mental health systems. The abhorrent actions of this mentally unstable individual highlights that the availability of mental health services is an issue of continuing importance. And we should not allow the actions of a mad man to be a pretext to harass law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen or deter us from protecting our rights as gauranteed by the U.S. Constitution. As we continue to learn the facts surrounding the Connecticut school shooting, Congress will examine whether there is an appropriate and CONSTITUTIONAL response that would better protect our citizens.
Thank you again for contacting me about this important matter. If you would like to..."
I believe we have excellent access to care for mental health issues. The problem is most people will NOT turn themselves in to undergo evaluation. So should we force people to undergo evaluation? HELL NO! We CANNOT infringe on our rights in any way whatsoever. I also disagree with Mr. McConnell when he states the man was "mentallly unstable." This man was EVIL. I hate when people try to blame some sort of mental problem instead of the person. He was evil and there is NO arguing otherwise! Only an evil person would commit such insidious acts of violence towards others, especially small and innocent children. We didn't have horrible acts such as this a couple hundred years ago, and that is because our way of life was MUCH different and we were not brain-washed into being an evil individual.
I tried using the italics button to show the emphasis on "constitutional" and other words but it would NOT work. I'm sorry that it is not the correct way to show emphasis, but I can never get the italics button to work.
