| Why so many kids have guns... Three years ago, Mary Leigh Blek was a self-proclaimed “soccer mom” living in a highly-secured community in Orange County, unaware that not far from her home cheap guns were being manufactured and distributed in cities across the country. When her 21-year-old son, Matthew, was gunned down in New York City by two teenagers armed with “Saturday Night Specials,” Blek's life took a sharp turn onto a road of awareness and activism. “His killers were just 15 years old, we're supposed to be the adults. We're supposed to keep them from getting guns,” says Blek. “We suddenly realized that this was a big problem and we wanted to do something about it.” Today, the campaign that Blek and her attorney husband, Charlie, started in memory of their son has led them to Sacramento to testify before the State Assembly Public Safety Committee in favor of a bill that would ban the manufacture and sale of the same type of gun that changed their lives forever. From the looks of things, it's a normal day in Sacramento. Members of the committee sit at a horseshoe-shaped table shuffling reams of papers while a seemingly endless procession of Assembly members and private citizens speak into microphones outlining the merits or evils of a variety of bills. Outside in the hallway, clusters of people in suits stand waiting or talking in low voices. A member of the committee rushes outside to pass off papers to a waiting staffer. A class-sized crowd of junior high school students stream by glancing around them at the trappings of their state government. They, like many, are unaware that a ground breaking is taking place today inside committee room number 444. That an unprecedented number of handgun control bills are being introduced in the face of statistics that show guns as the leading cause of death among young people like these students. But Brian Malte is aware. Sitting inside the committee room, the Assistant Western Regional Director of Handgun Control, Inc. has folded his 6-foot-3-inch frame into a cramped theater chair to observe the hearing. The lobbyist is watching and waiting, carefully gauging the reaction of the committee members. He takes careful notes about the concerns they raise, knowing that similar questions will be asked on down the line. “I'm not testifying today because everyone knows where I stand,” said Malte, who worked hard during the elections to send pro-gun control representatives to Sacramento. |
Mary Leigh Blek and others
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