Rep. Rouzer held a 2 hour town hall meeting in Wilmington last week for which I commended him when allowed to ask my question.  The major issues discussed included health care, environment, social security, equality and gun violence.  All of the expected jeers and boos came from most of the topics and answers (or non answers ) given by the representative.  His answer to my question regarding his stance on state reciprocity of concealed carry laws and campus carry laws was simply ” I support concealed carry laws”.  This answer makes it clear to me that he has absolutely no concern for the welfare of the children in the state of North Carolina nor any of its citizens.  Our state has some fairly good laws regarding these topics (which was mentioned) and he does not care if they are over ruled by federal laws or even other states with very weak gun violence prevention legislation.  Shame on you Rep Rouzer.

Since our country has the highest number of guns compared to any other developed country and if guns make us safer, we should be the safest country in the world.
We are the exact opposite.  To the point where other countries are beginning to warn their citizens of the danger of travelling to the United States.  Congress needs to address this issue and make our country safer.  Guns are the issue.  Wake up and do your job!  Several chants were taken up during the town hall meeting and one was “Do your job!”  and another was “yes or no!”  when the representative was asked a specific yes or no question and he would refuse to answer.  Instead he would spout political propaganda that did not answer the question.  At least he held the meeting and allowed all to participate in a reasonable way and he took the reaction he had to know he was going to get on certain issues.

The Reverend Jim Atwood gave an inspiring talk on his book “Gundamentalism”.  He is the father of local member Mebane Boyd.  He has been fighting for gun violence prevention for over forty years.  For those who missed the discussion I would highly recommend reading the book to gain some insight into the gun culture in this country and the issues involved around it.

This was my first opportunity to present the BeSmart program and review the simple, easy to remember ways to help keep our children safe from gun violence.

S – Secure guns in the home and vehicles, use gun locks and store ammunition separate from the gun

M – Model safe behavior,  point gun in safe direction and assume it is loaded; never trust the safety

A – Ask if there are guns in the home and how they are secured; including neighbors, friends and relatives

R – Recognize risks of teen suicide, change in mood, hopelessness, aggressiveness

T – Tell others to BeSmart and about the methods listed here to avoid gun violence to children.

Let your voice be heard!