Letter to the Editor: Pat Colella, Co-Leader of Westchester Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

To the Editor:

Feb. 28, 2018:  I am a Westchester resident and mother and the co-leader of the Westchester local group of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which is the grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety. 

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense is a non-partisan, volunteer movement of Americans including moms, dads, gun owners, veterans, mayors, gun violence survivors, and others working together to prevent gun violence.

Like everyone, I was saddened, shocked, and angry about the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Although New York has strong gun laws, both New York and Florida are missing a critical, common sense law that could prevent shootings like what happened in Parkland. 

It’s called an “Extreme Risk Protection Order” bill, or ERPO for short, which would empower family and law enforcement officials to ask a judge to temporarily block a person from having guns who poses a serious threat.

Luckily, an ERPO bill is up for a vote in the New York State Senate and Assembly. 

You can help stop school shootings by calling your state representatives to tell them to support the ERPO bill. If you want to get more involved, please join our local group of Moms Demand Action by visiting momsdemandaction.org.  

Pat Colella
Co-Leader of Westchester Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Editor's note:  MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements in letters to the editor, and the opinions do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff. Its objective in publishing letters to the editor is to give air to diverse thoughts and opinions of residents in the community.