Big congradulations go out to FOGG (that’s Friend of Gun Guys) Bryan Miller, who gets a very nice mention in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer’s roundup for their consideration of Citizen of the Year!
This year, readers were asked to nominate worthy candidates from the fields of government, community work, education, business, science and medicine, arts and culture, and sports and entertainment.
Readers obliged in volume; the nominating letters they wrote were often heartfelt and detailed. So it seems a good idea to list a fair sampling of the nominees today. Think of it as an honor roll of citizen heroes, preparatory to tomorrow’s announcement of the 2005 winner.
…Reducing the toll of gun violence on the area’s young people was another focal point of 2005. Many fine people have toiled long and hard in that bitter vineyard, but the person one reader recommended for notice was Bryan Miller, the cheerfully relentless, passionate but pragmatic leader of Ceasefire New Jersey.
Miller has done plenty of great work in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey– Pennsylvania has some of the loosest gun laws in the country, and the “legal” gun industry there is highly responsible for much of the gun problems New York is having. Gun problems, in fact, that even Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged in his Inaugural Address yesterday.
“Our most urgent challenge is ending the threat of guns and the violence they do. Twice in recent weeks, police officers have been struck down by gunfire on our streets. Twice the flags flying on this plaza have been lowered to half-staff, and the sound of pipes and drums has escorted brave and decent young men on their final journeys.
“Detectives Dillon Stewart and Daniel Enchautegui were among twelve of New York City’s Finest who gave their lives in the line of duty during the last four years.
“Now we have a duty as well, one that rises above all partisan politics, and one we will pursue relentlessly: And that is to rid our streets of guns, and punish all those who possess and traffic in these instruments of death.
“This is a national threat – one that crosses city lines and state boundaries.
“To meet it, we must, and we will, make common cause with our fellow Americans.
“We will take our message to Albany, to Washington, and to every capital of every state that permits guns to flow freely across its borders.
“And to those who distort our laws to aid and abet hardened criminals, know this: We will not rest until we secure all of the tools we need to protect New Yorkers from the scourge of illegal guns.
“Public safety is the foundation of our city’s prosperity.
“Without it, our quality of life, our economy, our efforts to reform the schools would surely falter.”
Every day, pro-gun guys like to tell us that the gun issue is a losing one, that the NRA has taken over America and there’s nothing we can do about it. But nothing could be further than the truth. A passionate, hardworking gun violence prevention advocate is nominated by his community for Citizen of the Year, and a hugely popular elected official calls openly for stronger gun legislation. Two signs among many, many more that America is tired of gun violence and ready to do something about it. Guns have flooded our streets and victimized our citizens for too long, and, despite the efforts of the NRA to the contrary, America is ready for legislation that shuts down the flow of guns into criminals’ hands.
