http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49095-2000Apr20.html
Moms Backed by Area Lawmakers
By Susan Levine
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday , April 20, 2000 ; B03
Patricia Thomas had so much she wanted to say, so much she'd typed up, double-spaced, about the boy who this year would have turned 24. If only he'd lived.
The Burke mother planned to talk about the things her son liked--Star Wars, travel and computers--and the plans he'd made for his future. And she could not have found a more
sympathetic crowd than the audience yesterday at the U.S. Capitol.
But as she stood before the microphone on the west steps, the last speaker at an hour-long news conference primarily featuring elected officials, she couldn't get the words out.
"On Friday, July 28, 1995," Thomas began, her other child, Kenneth, 17, by her side, "I lost my son Jerome to gun violence." She paused a long moment, struggling for
composure. She looked off into the distance, then down again at her speech, and tried once more.
"I want to save my surviving son," she said softly. She could go no further.
During the next several weeks, the nation will hear many stories like this one as mothers step forward to relive publicly their own private tragedies. Their aching pain and anger
will coalesce May 14 with the Million Mom March on the Mall, which organizers believe will be the country's largest demonstration ever for gun control.
A counter-demonstration by the Second Amendment Sisters, a group with a "pro-gun perspective," will take place the same day.
On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, the upcoming Mother's Day rally drew the support of more than a dozen local and
state lawmakers from across the Washington region. They demanded that Congress enact legislation to require safety locks on handguns and expand background checks for
those who purchase weapons at gun shows, measures that have languished on Capitol Hill for months.
"They have not even been able to get the committee to meet to discuss it," said a disgusted Michael D. Barnes, the former Maryland congressman who now is president of
Handgun Control Inc.
The 13 victims of Columbine were much on the minds of those gathered, just as they were at a candlelight vigil last night at Imani Temple in the District.
"The mothers are coming because all else has failed," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). "The mothers are coming because tomorrow marks a full year since the
Columbine youth massacre, and still the majority here in the Congress refuses to produce a final bill."
Barnes and Norton stood with D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Rep. Albert R. Wynn (Md.), Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, Montgomery State's
Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley and numerous Maryland state legislators--Democrats all. Seventeen Democratic lawmakers from Virginia,
who also have endorsed the May 14 event, were unable to attend the news conference because of a General Assembly veto session.
The Maryland and Virginia legislatures' vastly different approaches to gun issues took front and center stage at the news conference. Maryland just passed the first bill in the
nation requiring safety locks on all handguns sold in the state and safety training before a handgun purchase. Virginia, by contrast, just killed a proposal to prohibit possession
of firearms on school grounds.
"Our message has fallen on deaf ears in Richmond, where our governor instead chooses to pose for ads with the NRA," said Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Jay
Fisette.
In the District, though, city employees will find a notice publicizing the Mother's Day rally in their May 2 paychecks. The mayor yesterday presented the local mothers helping
to organize the event with an official proclamation of support--the latest from more than half a dozen area governments.
Williams said 17 children in the District have been killed by guns since the beginning of the school year. Roll back the calendar to 1990, and the tally is more than 635.
One of those victims was Patricia Thomas's son, Jerome, 18. He was shot in the back by strangers. Two of his assailants were all of 16 and 17 years old.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
Moms Backed by Area Lawmakers
By Susan Levine
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday , April 20, 2000 ; B03
Patricia Thomas had so much she wanted to say, so much she'd typed up, double-spaced, about the boy who this year would have turned 24. If only he'd lived.
The Burke mother planned to talk about the things her son liked--Star Wars, travel and computers--and the plans he'd made for his future. And she could not have found a more
sympathetic crowd than the audience yesterday at the U.S. Capitol.
But as she stood before the microphone on the west steps, the last speaker at an hour-long news conference primarily featuring elected officials, she couldn't get the words out.
"On Friday, July 28, 1995," Thomas began, her other child, Kenneth, 17, by her side, "I lost my son Jerome to gun violence." She paused a long moment, struggling for
composure. She looked off into the distance, then down again at her speech, and tried once more.
"I want to save my surviving son," she said softly. She could go no further.
During the next several weeks, the nation will hear many stories like this one as mothers step forward to relive publicly their own private tragedies. Their aching pain and anger
will coalesce May 14 with the Million Mom March on the Mall, which organizers believe will be the country's largest demonstration ever for gun control.
A counter-demonstration by the Second Amendment Sisters, a group with a "pro-gun perspective," will take place the same day.
On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, the upcoming Mother's Day rally drew the support of more than a dozen local and
state lawmakers from across the Washington region. They demanded that Congress enact legislation to require safety locks on handguns and expand background checks for
those who purchase weapons at gun shows, measures that have languished on Capitol Hill for months.
"They have not even been able to get the committee to meet to discuss it," said a disgusted Michael D. Barnes, the former Maryland congressman who now is president of
Handgun Control Inc.
The 13 victims of Columbine were much on the minds of those gathered, just as they were at a candlelight vigil last night at Imani Temple in the District.
"The mothers are coming because all else has failed," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). "The mothers are coming because tomorrow marks a full year since the
Columbine youth massacre, and still the majority here in the Congress refuses to produce a final bill."
Barnes and Norton stood with D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Rep. Albert R. Wynn (Md.), Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, Montgomery State's
Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley and numerous Maryland state legislators--Democrats all. Seventeen Democratic lawmakers from Virginia,
who also have endorsed the May 14 event, were unable to attend the news conference because of a General Assembly veto session.
The Maryland and Virginia legislatures' vastly different approaches to gun issues took front and center stage at the news conference. Maryland just passed the first bill in the
nation requiring safety locks on all handguns sold in the state and safety training before a handgun purchase. Virginia, by contrast, just killed a proposal to prohibit possession
of firearms on school grounds.
"Our message has fallen on deaf ears in Richmond, where our governor instead chooses to pose for ads with the NRA," said Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Jay
Fisette.
In the District, though, city employees will find a notice publicizing the Mother's Day rally in their May 2 paychecks. The mayor yesterday presented the local mothers helping
to organize the event with an official proclamation of support--the latest from more than half a dozen area governments.
Williams said 17 children in the District have been killed by guns since the beginning of the school year. Roll back the calendar to 1990, and the tally is more than 635.
One of those victims was Patricia Thomas's son, Jerome, 18. He was shot in the back by strangers. Two of his assailants were all of 16 and 17 years old.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company