My 12th letter of the 21 letters honoring the Uvalde 21 ends with a statement of brutal reality that I picked up from reading “Trigger Points” by Mark Follman. I end the letter by saying
“His parents sent him to school and he came home in a box.”
The quote is from Bill Modzeleski, director of the US Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools during the Clinton administration. In working to address school shootings, Modzeleski remarked
“We can say over and over again that these are rare events but no parent should ever have to accept their kids going to school and coming home in a box.”
The Robb Elementary child being honored in today’s letter to Senator Mike Shirkey, majority leader of the Michigan Senate, is Jayce Luevanos. Another ten-year-old, Jayce and his cousin Jailah Silguero were both killed in Uvalde that day.
The pile of Project 21 letters is growing. Most of them are to two Michigan Republican lawmakers who have refused to even give proposed gun safety legislation a hearing at the committee level. Their inept concept of handling legislation is, quite frankly, despicable. Their failure to legislate is misogynistic to boot since Senator Shirkey has done everything he can to NOT work with Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, a strong and tough woman leader.
Being an advocate for safe gun legislation is going to be a long haul endeavor. I look to Gabby Gifford for my inspiration. But that story can be for another post. For now, I urge you to write or call or email your legislators about getting guns out of our homes and schools.