Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe From Gun Violence
After the gunman killed 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary, UCLA constitutional law professor Adam Winkler said, "We are at a turning point." He's right. If not now, when?
Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly count themselves among the 34 percent of American households that reported owning guns in 2012. Mark was a sharpshooter at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and later an expert marksman in the Navy. When Gabby and Mark started dating, one of Mark's gifts to her was a handgun. Gabby and Mark own guns. Mark hunts. Gabby shot with her right hand before the 2011 Tucson shooting disabled her right side; she's learning to shoot with her left hand.
But just as we Americans stand behind laws and rules that tell us who can smoke and where, who can consume alcohol and how much, who can drive a car and at what speed -- Gabby and Mark believe in common sense laws that govern firearms. Cigarettes can kill, so we accept some rules about smoking. Why not agree on a few rules about gun ownership?
For the last two years, basic questions consumed Gabby and Mark's family: Would Gabby survive the bullet through her brain? Would she walk again? Smile that smile that won my heart? Speak? Hug her friends? Return to work? Miraculously -- but with great difficulty and much painful work -- Gabby has prevailed. Gabby's recovery, though far from complete, has now freed her and Mark to ask larger questions that confront us as a nation.
Guns took the lives of more than 31,000 Americans in 2012. The U.S. rate of firearm homicide for children five to 14 is 13 times higher than any other developed nation. Our gun murder rate is about 20 times the average for most developed countries.
Why are we allowing this to happen? Can reasonable people come together to make our country less dangerous? Gabby and Mark believe that an essential freedom in America is the freedom to live in safe communities. What can we do to create a nation where the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns for hunting and self-protection is preserved, but military-style weapons meant for the battlefield remain with the armed forces, rather than armed individuals?
Together with friends and supporters, they answered the call to stand up for reasonable, rational responses to gun violence. They have created Americans for Responsible Solutions, an organization that will be powerful enough to help change our laws and protect Americans, in many ways, including
---Strengthen background checks, so that criminals and mentally deranged people cannot acquire guns.
---Limit high-capacity magazines, because no civilian needs a rifle or gun with hundreds of bullets that can be sprayed at a crowd of people.
---Establish responsible boundaries for military-type assault weapons
---Give our police and law enforcement professionals better tools to stop illegal gun trafficking
---Save women who seek protective orders from abusive partners with guns. The NRA has lobbied against laws that would protect women, and many have been killed as a result.
This book will take readers behind the scenes of Gabby and Mark's efforts to enact responsible gun legislation. Moreover, it will provide an intimate window into the recovery of one of our nationa's most inspiring public figures and show how her husband has taken on the role of co-advocate in one of the defining issues of our time.
Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly (Author), Mark Kelly (Narrator)
Audiobook
