Parent of Sandy Hook Elementary School Victim Delivers Weekly Radio Address - Deeply Moving

I have no doubt that individuals that are Second Amendment absolutists and other foes of President Obama will excoriate him for, in their view, using the mother of a Sandy Hook Elementary School victim as a prop as she stood in for the president in the delivery of his April 13 Weekly Radio Address.  I consider the brief plea by Francine Wheeler to have been entirely appropriate, a master stroke on the part of the president.

How many individuals could deliver an address wirth poise, grace, and composure but four months after their son was riddled with bullets shot into his six-year-old body by a madman?  Mrs. Wheeler looked into the eyes and soul of our nation as she sat alongside her husband.  She noted that she has heard that the nation has come to digest and get beyond what occurred in Newtown on that fateful day of infamy, but that the event shall always be devastating to her and her family.

She urged the American people to get involved to insist that Congress do what it reasonably can to keep guns out of the hands of violent people, and noted that many are fighting to ensure that her wishes are thwarted.

Ijn an effort to retain a connection with her slain son, she refers to her beloved Benjamin in the present tense, saying, "I have two sons", though only one remains alive.

Mrs. Wheeler's talk comes in the week in which pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment advocate, West Virginia U. S. Senator Joe Manchin, broke down as he met with the families of Newtown victims, stating as he broke down, "I'm a parent...I'm a parent", and indicating that he cannot imagine the grief and pain that those who suffered this horror are enduring.

For those that have not watched Mrs. Wheeler's address, I recommend doing so and I challenge anyone to remain dispassionate and unemotional upon listenting to her heartfelt words.  (http://www.whitehouse.gov/newtownaddress).

I stand with the president 100% in his belated efforts to impose reasonable restrictions on the right of virtually any individual to secure an arsenal of lethal weapons.  We must continue to hear from those that have been impacted most severely by the gun homicide epidemic so that we do not lose our desire to act.