Statement from Mayor Rizzo Regarding Incidents in Newtown CT
December 17, 2012
As a coalition member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, I am all the more perplexed as to why more isn’t being done to revise our gun laws. Like many of you, I sat in my living room trying to imagine the tremendous grief and sadness that the city of Newtown, Connecticut will experience over the next many days, weeks, and months. At one point, as I watched the unfolding of this horrific event, this wave of anxiety came over me as I imagined what the city of Revere would be like if we were to be thrust into such a tragic event like took place in Newtown. It seems incomprehensible.
New York City’s Mayor, and Co-Chair of the Coalition said, “We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again. For every day we wait, 34 more people are murdered with guns. Today, many of them were five-year olds. President Obama rightly sent his heartfelt condolences to the families in Newtown. But the country needs him to send a bill to Congress to fix this problem.”
Mayor of the City of Boston Thomas M. Menino, the other Co-Chair went on to say “Innocent children will now never attend a prom, never play in a big game, never step foot on a college campus. Now is the time for a national policy on guns that takes the loopholes out of the laws, the automatic weapons out of our neighborhoods, and the tragedies like today out of our future.”
Recognizing that gun control in and of itself will not keep our children entirely safe, I am dedicated to actively pursuing conversations with Superintendent Paul Dakin and his administrators, as well as our state and federal delegations to discuss further precautions and measures we can take to preserve the sanctity of our schools.
On a personal level, I happen to believe that we should explore placing security personnel in each and every school. Whether covered by local law enforcement or some other branch of security such as the Massachusetts National Guard or a newly created organization similar to Sky Marshals used by U.S. based Airlines, some sort of protection is warranted. With respect to the Guard, maybe existing troops looking to serve their mandatory two weeks of active duty go to a school building in place of being assigned to an army base or other facility.
Admittedly I don't have all the answers- however, I do know this; we must do everything we possibly can to protect our kids and see to it that no child, family or community has to endure what took place in Newtown, CT. last week.
I know I speak for all of us in Revere that our thoughts, hearts, and prayers go out to the families and victims as well as the entire community of Newtown; they most certainly need them.