To the Editor:

There was a theme on display at the State of the Union speech last Tuesday night. Did you notice? The empty seat between Michelle Obama and Gov. Dannel Malloy? Gabby Giffords front and center? The First Lady’s orange dress? The green ribbon on Elizabeth Esty’s lapel?

That empty seat was reserved for any of the 33,000+ gun violence victims killed each year in America. Gabby Giffords is the former US Representative who was shot in the head and lost staffers and con-stituents to gun violence during a public appearance at a mall. The color orange has been adopted by the Gun Violence Prevention movement. And, for those of you in Newtown, I don’t need to explain the green ribbon.

The United States has a dangerous, deadly relationship with its gun culture and our Congress is in a state of denial because they refuse to do anything to change it. The NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) has worked tirelessly to be sure things don’t change. The NSSF has vigorously promoted the semiautomatic rifle with a high capacity magazine as the “modern sporting rifle,” trying to make us forget that, not too long ago, it was trumpeted as an “assault weapon” in an effort to boost sales. Now, distancing themselves from the assault weapon debate, they offer rhetoric about the Second Amendment and freedom.

In case you haven’t noticed, nobody is coming for our guns...this irrational fear of gun confiscation is stoked by the NSSF to drive sales and fill their coffers with millions of dollars that they then turn around and use to funnel money to lobbyists and politicians to carry out their political will, which is to promote fear and drive more gun sales!

This week, in Las Vegas, NV, far removed from the reality of everyday society, the NSSF is hosting its annual SHOT show. They spend millions of dollars there promoting their perverse views on firearm proliferation with their benefactors, the firearms manufacturers. They shower their largesse on oblig-ing entertainers and politicians to demonstrate to the public how “normal” they all are.

Bill Moyers recently cited ‘ data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which states that “2,525 children and teens died by gunfire in [the United States] in 2014 – one child or teen death every 3 hours and 28 minutes, nearly 7 a day, 48 a week.” Such figures indicate that too many youth in the United States occupy what might be called war zones in which guns and violence proliferate. In this scenario, guns and the hyper-masculine culture of violence are given more support than young people and life itself.’

This culture of violence needs to change...please put some thought into your priorities and hold your politicians accountable. No single person is to blame for where our society is now and there is no single person who can change it, but change will occur if we inform ourselves and continue to work together.

Andrew Morosky

11 The Boulevard, Newtown         January 18, 2016