Since the Dec. 14 Newtown Conn. shootings, President Barack Obama has been urging Congress and the American people to adopt the legislation necessary to protect our children.
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Today at a press conference to announce a comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence, the message was no different.
He talked about the 20 young victims of Newtown that were between the ages of 6-7 to the crowd of parents still mourning their deaths. Then he singled out Grace McDonnell’s parents, who were sitting just rows from him.
You know, when I visited Newtown last month I spent some private time with many of the families who’d lost their children that day. And one was the family of Grace McDonnell (ph). Grace’s parents are here. Grace was seven years old when she was struck down, just a gorgeous, caring, joyful little girl. I’m told she loved pink. She loved the beach. She dreamed of becoming a painter.
Then, President Obama talked about the one thing he sees every day that reminds him of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl and countless other children who are gunned down daily.
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And so just before I left, Chris (ph), her father, gave me one of her paintings. And I hung it in my private study just off the Oval Office. And every time I look at that painting, I think about Grace, and I think about the life that she lived and the life that lay ahead of her. And most of all, I think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now, for Grace, for the 25 other innocent children and devoted educators who had so much left to give; for the men and women in big cities and small towns who fall victims to senseless violence each and every day; for all the Americans who are counting on us to keep them safe from harm.
He ended the conference by signing the orders to keep good on that promise.
We continue to pray for Grace and the other children that are murdered every day by senseless gun violence. They are all gone too soon.
SOURCE: Washington Post
