Victoria Reggie Kennedy Addresses Gun Violence in Wake of Virginia Tech
April 30, 2007
Victoria Reggie Kennedy, attorney, author and wife of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, came to Emmanuel on April 30th to address "Gun Violence in the Wake of Virginia Tech." Kennedy spoke to a crowd of students, faculty and staff in the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall.
The president and co-founder of Common Sense about Kids and Guns, a non-profit, non-partisan organization created to address the crisis of gun deaths and injuries to children, Kennedy has long been an advocate for stricter firearm laws and regulations in the United States. A member of the board of trustees of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in which she chairs the board's Program and Strategic Planning Committee, Kennedy has also served on the board of Stop Handgun Violence in Boston, and as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Annual Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence.
A regular lecturer on issues surrounding gun violence, Kennedy's discussions have taken on new meaning in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, which has further strengthened her belief that stricter regulations should be put in place to keep handguns out of the "wrong hands."
"We have an increasingly violent society and have increasing issues with mental health that haven't been addressed," said Kennedy. "It shouldn't be easier to get guns than it is to get mental health treatment. We need to address this problem and I wonder why we're not taking the steps we are."
During her speech, Kennedy asked the audience to take a moment of silence for the victims of the massacre, paying special tribute to Massachusetts resident Ross Abdallah Alameddine, one of the 32 people killed by gunman Cho Seung-Hui on April 16th on the Virginia Tech campus.
Although Kennedy hopes the incident continues to bring light to the importance of gun violence prevention, she admits there have already been significant strides made that suggest positive change is imminent.
"In the wake of Virginia Tech there's been a universal acceptance, I think for the first time, that there are certain people that shouldn't have firearms," she said. "That is an enormous step forward. If any good can come out of this enormously tragic event it's that no one with mental health issues should be able to purchase firearms."