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Columbine mom urges gun curbs
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Washington Bureau
Aug. 17, 2000 - LOS ANGELES - The mother of slain Columbine High School student Lauren Townsend says the best way to honor Lauren's memory would be for politicians to start making the world safer for children.
"God has hit us over the head with this cosmic two-by-four, telling us to get our act together," Dawn Anna of Littleton told delegates to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
"When our voices are heard and we create a safe haven for our children, Lauren's memory will be honored," Anna said during a panel discussion among victims of gun violence. "We need to have our representatives hear us, and if they turn their backs to what we're saying, then they need to be ashamed."
On stage, she didn't specify what she thought elected officials should do. But in an interview, she said she thinks they should close the socalled gun-show loophole and improve public schools.
The April 20, 1999, shooting of 12 students and one teacher in the suburban Denver high school is a common talking point for convention speakers touting Democratic support for gun control.
But Anna put a face on the tragedy in her brief, pre-prime-time appearance.
Anna, in a black outfit adorned with a Columbine ribbon with Lauren's photograph, didn't criticize Republicans or praise Democrats. In an interview, she said she is leaning toward voting for Al Gore for president, "but my vote still needs to be won."
She said she agreed to speak at the convention on the condition that she would not have to be a cheerleader for any candidate. She said she was contacted about speaking at the Republican convention, but after she said she wanted to be able to talk about gun control and reducing class size, she never heard back.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who led the session, said Anna's story, along with those of two other women, showed why Gore should be elected.
"We have heard from three people who need a principled fighter"
like Gore, he said.
Anna left the stage with tears streaming down her cheeks after a group hug with the two women who had shared the stage with her: Carole Price, whose 13-year-old son was shot and killed accidentally by a friend, and sexual assault victim Jodie Gaines Johnson. Anna said she bonded with her fellow speakers.
"When you're with people who have been through what we've been through, it's not just a story, it's your life, too," she said.
She spoke from a stage that had been taken earlier in the day by the parents of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student who was lashed to a fence outside Laramie and fatally beaten by two men.
They said their son's killers should have been prosecuted for a hate crime but couldn't be because sexual orientation isn't included in the federal hate crime laws.
Matthew's father, Dennis, told the delegates that "everybody has the right to be different" but that his son was not given that right.
"This is not a gay-rights issue," he said. "This is a human-rights issue."
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Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Washington Bureau
Aug. 17, 2000 - LOS ANGELES - The mother of slain Columbine High School student Lauren Townsend says the best way to honor Lauren's memory would be for politicians to start making the world safer for children.
"God has hit us over the head with this cosmic two-by-four, telling us to get our act together," Dawn Anna of Littleton told delegates to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
"When our voices are heard and we create a safe haven for our children, Lauren's memory will be honored," Anna said during a panel discussion among victims of gun violence. "We need to have our representatives hear us, and if they turn their backs to what we're saying, then they need to be ashamed."
On stage, she didn't specify what she thought elected officials should do. But in an interview, she said she thinks they should close the socalled gun-show loophole and improve public schools.
The April 20, 1999, shooting of 12 students and one teacher in the suburban Denver high school is a common talking point for convention speakers touting Democratic support for gun control.
But Anna put a face on the tragedy in her brief, pre-prime-time appearance.
Anna, in a black outfit adorned with a Columbine ribbon with Lauren's photograph, didn't criticize Republicans or praise Democrats. In an interview, she said she is leaning toward voting for Al Gore for president, "but my vote still needs to be won."
She said she agreed to speak at the convention on the condition that she would not have to be a cheerleader for any candidate. She said she was contacted about speaking at the Republican convention, but after she said she wanted to be able to talk about gun control and reducing class size, she never heard back.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who led the session, said Anna's story, along with those of two other women, showed why Gore should be elected.
"We have heard from three people who need a principled fighter"
like Gore, he said.
Anna left the stage with tears streaming down her cheeks after a group hug with the two women who had shared the stage with her: Carole Price, whose 13-year-old son was shot and killed accidentally by a friend, and sexual assault victim Jodie Gaines Johnson. Anna said she bonded with her fellow speakers.
"When you're with people who have been through what we've been through, it's not just a story, it's your life, too," she said.
She spoke from a stage that had been taken earlier in the day by the parents of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student who was lashed to a fence outside Laramie and fatally beaten by two men.
They said their son's killers should have been prosecuted for a hate crime but couldn't be because sexual orientation isn't included in the federal hate crime laws.
Matthew's father, Dennis, told the delegates that "everybody has the right to be different" but that his son was not given that right.
"This is not a gay-rights issue," he said. "This is a human-rights issue."
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Copyright 2000 The Denver Post. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.