Peter Graffagnino of Bridgeville is a retired educator.
In response to George Roof’s recent Opinion (“Gun debate should recall founders’ purpose”): I found your piece most interesting. I do take issue with your characterization of me as being “liberal-minded” because of my concern about gun violence in the U.S. Our forefathers who wrote the Constitution had no idea what the country would be like in 2026. That would be like someone today projecting what our country would be like or would need many, many hundreds of years from now.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are guidelines for a more perfect union. Our Founding Fathers could not have fathomed that gun violence in America would cause the death of over 44,000 Americans yearly (see Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data in 2024 and/or BRADY Against Gun Violence) nor that 25,000 of those would be suicides (see the Opinion of Denise Marks, titled, “There are ways to hinder gun deaths”). Mrs. Marks lists some very disturbing facts in her recent piece. She states that 76,000 people survive gunshot injuries annually in the U.S. She further states the following: “Each year, $2.8 billion goes toward the immediate and long-term medical care of those injured by firearms.” Are you OK with those facts, Mr. Roof? I sincerely thank Mrs. Marks for her submission. You see, her daughter committed suicide with a gun that she found in her home. She further states that she and her husband thought that the gun was safely stored. It takes a lot of courage to share their loss and the particulars that caused same in their recent posts. It had to be a terrible time for them to do so, especially during the holiday season. But they, as well as I, felt the need to let people know about the damage and consequences of not being a careful gun owner. Likewise, the availability of illegal firearms to anyone with a pocketful of cash, convicted of a felony or not, is most disturbing.
Recently, a young Delaware State Police officer, who was a new father, was shot while working an overtime shift in a Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles office. He took one bullet from the gunman. He saw that the gunman was going to fire again, so he pushed an employee out of the gunman’s line of sight, saving that individual from being shot, while taking the gunman’s second round himself. That proved to be fatal. What should we tell his young bride? Likewise, what do we tell his young child? “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people”? Somehow, I don’t think that mentality seems fair! Do you, Mr. Roof?
As I have said in the past, I was a gun owner. Once my first child was born, I removed my gun from our home, not wanting to risk a child finding same. I certainly don’t have all the answers. I will tell you what I would like. Every individual who is running for any elected office should be required to release to the general public any and all campaign funding received and where same came from. I’d like to have this done, so we, the voters, can see who is being influenced by the almighty dollar. For what it’s worth!
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
