Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Gun violence

West Marlborough resident Starr Cummin Bright was the lead-off speaker at a gun violence forum sponsored by Oxford mayor Geoff Henry that was held at Oxford Presbyterian Church the evening of April 16.
Starr showed true guts by standing up in front of the large crowd and talking about how, back in 1991 in Landenberg, she was shot at point-blank range by a mentally ill gunman. In her riveting, emotional talk, she described the devastation that one .32-caliber bullet has caused in her body and her life.
"This guy never should've had a gun," she said simply.
Supporting Starr at the talk were her two daughters (who were ages 1 and 3 at the time of the shooting), her husband, sculptor Clayton Bright, and a host of friends.
"Unionville in the News" is not a forum for my political opinions, but I will say that listening to the ensuing discussion, I was struck by the vast cultural and ideological gulf between the extremists on both sides. I know a lot of avid gun-owners with well-defended homes -- hunters, target-shooters, crime victims, farmers -- who fall squarely into the middle camp. We need to hear more from them.

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