This past Saturday, Brandon Holt, a 6-year-old Toms River boy accidentally shot dead when a 4-year-old friend picked up a rifle during a playdate, was laid to rest. That same day, a group of area mothers rallied at LOVE Park in Center City Philadelphia to call for stricter gun control laws, including universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons. Hours before, Francine Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son Ben was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre four months ago, delivered President Obama's weekly radio address, speaking eloquently and movingly about her loss while calling for Congress to act swiftly.
No matter what your views on gun control are, the debate has come to the Delaware Valley — and it's an important one. As the Senate takes up the gun control bill drafted by a bipartisan team of legislators, the words of a grieving mother are worth hearing.
Cheryl Krementz is the new managing editor at MetroKids.
