Editor’s note: This Morristown resident asked to share her letter to Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) The opinions are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.
February 8, 2017
The Hon. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen,
Congressman, 11th District
30 Schuyler Place, 2nd floor
Morristown, NJ 07960
Dear Mr. Frelinghuysen:
I object to your vote on H.J. Resolution 40 to repeal the requirement that the Social Security Administration report information about those receiving disability payments for mental disorders. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System provides for the well-being of our citizenry regardless of their mental state.
USA Today reported that about 75,000 people would be affected, including those with schizophrenia. You don’t live in downtown Morristown so you don’t see the schizophrenics who make up the fabric of our everyday life.
I can tell you that one woman is armed with scissors and had threatened one of my friends. I can’t imagine what life would be like if she were armed with a firearm. Yes, she receives social security.
The National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist, Chris Cox, said the rule “would have stripped law-abiding Americans of their Second Amendment rights without due process.”
Have you forgotten about the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut in which 20 elementary school students were gunned down? They were law-abiding Americans who were stripped of their right to life.
“Many representatives who voted to make it easier for guns to fall into dangerous hands are the same ones who muster no more than hypocritical tweets of ‘thoughts and prayers’ in the wake of headline-grabbing violence,” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which supports gun control measures.
Gun rights groups such as the NRA spent $5.8 million on the 2016 elections, 98 percent in support of Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group. Well, I don’t have that kind of money but you can listen to me anyway.
The congress used the Congressional Review Act to disapprove and reverse five regulations saying the “multiple burdensome regulations” would “harm American small businesses and law-abiding citizens. I am a law-abiding citizen and I feel harmed by your decision.
I remain sincerely yours,
Linda Langstaff Carrington
Morristown, NJ
Linda,
I agree with your concerns, and absolutely can not understand why so many people (a noteworthy vocal minority by all reports from multiple and reputable national and international research organizations, but a minority none the less) continue to resist sensible and reasonable gun control. The annual loss of life is almost incomprehensible and so tragic, especially the deaths of children and by children who get access to guns and accidently kill their friends and family members. I am confident that the mentally unstable themselves do not have any admiration for lawmakers that would make the painful difficulties of their lives worse by giving them the ability to own a gun and then expecting them to be responsible for its whereabouts. I’m old enough to remember the “silent majority” category of the electorate of days gone by and now wonder “Why the silence?” on such a fundamental issue of life and death. Or maybe it is not “silence” on the part of the majority but rather the issue is that those elected to listen are not listening.
As maddening as all this is, I consciously try to temper as much of my anger from my contacts with legislators as I can muster. Let’s hope efforts like yours will lead to reasonable common ground. Thank you for your sincere plea to Rep. Frelinghuysen.
I completely agree with Ms. Carrington. I would like it if Rep. Frelinghuysen would respond to her letter in the same manner, or at least hold a townhall meeting with his constituents to discuss all of his recent votes.
Thank you, Linda, for writing for all of us so persuasively.
Cece Kent
Excellent letter, Linda! Got all the main points.
Leslie Moran, Ph.D.
(Psychologist- retired)
Well put, Linda! Thanks for going to bat for us all.