Jessica,
Please provide a reference to your statement, "Many Americans have been deeply moved by the recent violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School and feel it is time for stronger regulations on gun ownership."

I know many more American's that state that we should not ever amend a right.

Let me guess, your going to legislate evil people next??

The sad story to this is that you cannot understand that this was an evil act and attempting to disarm Law Abiding Citizens is not the appropriate action.

If we do so, then I would like to take away your right to freedom of speech and availability to use the press too. See where this starts and never ends?

Soon you will have no rights and then what? How do you defend to get those rights back? To vote? Nope that will be gone too.

Good try. Don't attack rights that you never exercise because it's your fault.

So he stole the weapons? That is an illegal action.

So in turn, the legal person that was the owner of the weapons was killed and the killer stole weapons to use on other people...

How many other people are killed in and around Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC (Mind you that these places have strict gun control laws) that involve weapons being used by law abiding citizens?

I guess that number would be close to zero.

Jessica,
Your argument is based on emotion and not rational thought. Look at the greater meaning for the 2nd Amendment and it's purpose to support the other rights that you greatly enjoy.
Then you might begin to realize to leave such a sacred document, such as the Bill of Rights, untouched and unamended.

Common ground of assisting Mentally ill people, Yes.
To reduce the 2nd Amendment, Nope!

John -- Thank you and a big yes ... I would love to brainstorm on how to get the petition in front of more people. How can I reach you?

Keep in mind a .22 caliper full metal jacketed weapon that seems so feared isn't even considered capable to hunt dear with. Adam Lanza primarily used his 9mm pistol's in the shooting why isn't this discussed? Is it because the 9mm doesn't look scary? Lets out law all scary looking things that will fix this problem!

John -- I checked on my profile patch but didn't see any message from you.
Not sure how to connect.

Define Military Grade weaponry?

I bet you, without you looking up on google, what makes a weapon considered an assault rifle? I do and it has nothing to do with the caliber or how many rounds are held in a clip or it being a semi-automatic.

The media has little clue too. They just grab a rifle that looks mean and throw it in viewers faces. Then they persuade you to believe that every weapon that looks like this is an assault weapon.

Please people, if you have little understanding on weaponry, stay out of the debate. You are just feeding into others that are controlling your opinions and thoughts on subjects and that makes you the low information voter in America.

Get out and exercise your right and then you might have a different opinion.

You should read WOW's contribution it gets to the heart of the matter. You political types waste everyone's time! WE GET IT YOU DON'T LIKE REPUBLICANS! or freedom now move along to another subject Rainman!

John -- I checked the profile but didn't see anything. I sent an email to Rick Nagel to see if he can help connect us.

I was going to sign it - but I read that it bans ownership of all semi-automatic weapons? I'm not a gun aficionado, but I think that means any gun that fires one shot every time you pull the trigger. So most pistols (and there must be 10's of millions of them) would be illegal to own?
You might not like guns - I could take 'em or leave 'em - but I think you'll have a better chance of getting something passed that doesn't amount to widespread disarming of the citizenry.

Martha, the Second Amendment is timeless. Like the Ten Commandments, our Bill of Rights is relevant to the aspirations for freedom of all people, in all places, at all times. Unfortunately, and unlike the Ten Commandments, it is only applicable in the USA. If the fundamental principles of freedom are not something you respect, then I suggest that the sacrifices made by millions of others to defend them are wasted on you. I hope that any progeny you may have given to the world have a clearer understanding of what it means to be an American.

Sincerely Jessica, what would you expect Congressman Hultgren to say about the Democrats? We have an excessive amount of laws that we can not enforce now. The critical point has nothing to do with guns but how we enforce the laws against criminals and how we help mentally unstable people. That is where we should be spending our time and money.

As I stated earlier...why don't we work on enforcing current laws on the books and see how that goes. Maybe, figure out how we can prevent judges from legislating from the bench and simply enforce the laws. You're not going to change how criminals get guns. Well armed citizens are the best defense. We need our medical community to help devise a plan to handle the mentally unstable.