Don't forget #sandyhook. Sign the petition to #vetoviolence

"No More".

After 15 people were killed and 21 injured in Columbine, we said, "No More". We said it again after Gaby Giffords, and others, were shot in Tuscon. And again in Colorado. And again in Wisconsin. And again in Minnesota.

"No More".

On Friday, December 14, 2012 the residents of Newtown, Connecticut began their day like any other. Like the close-knit, loving people they are, they kissed each other good-bye and went off to work and school. Their heads, no doubt, filled with the joy and excitement of Christmas, which is fast approaching.

No one could ever have imagined the unspeakable, unthinkable horror that was about to shake this small, picturesque, jewel of a town to its very core. Shake all of America to its very core.

On Friday, December 14, 2012, a disturbed gunman, who also lived in this affluent community, blasted his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School; and mercilessly and brutally slaughtered 20 innocent 6 and 7 year olds. He also mercilessly and brutally slaughtered the 6 adults who tried to save their lives, before killing himself.

Unlike his neighbours, he had no love in his heart.

So what are we going to say this time? "No More", doesn't work. At least not when there isn't an 'action' that goes along with it:

Do we, for once and for all, have to get assault weapons off our streets? Yes. But that's not the entire problem. Nothing will work until we begin to acknowledge and address our mental health care crisis. Because it's when guns find their way into the 'wrong' hands, that the unimaginable happens.

According to Human Rights Watch, at this very moment there are 1.25 million prison and jail inmates who suffer from mental health issues. An illness these institutions are ill equipped to deal with.

And what about all those who aren't incarcerated? All those living in our communities? Just like Adam Lanza. Or in our cities and states. And all across our nation. What about all the Adam Lanzas.

First up, we have to address the stigma associated with mental illness. So sufferers and their families will not ignore symptoms, for fear of being ostracized. So sufferers and their families will not forgo medical attention and counseling and medication, because they're embarrassed, or ashamed.

We also have to address the elephant in the room. Who's going to pay for it? How? And then we have to tackle the NRA.

Yes. The problem facing us is huge. Complex. And a political hot potato. But for how much longer can we watch innocent people murdered? For how much longer can we fear for our lives everytime we go to a mall, or to a movie, or to school. There's only one answer.

"No More".

Sign our petition today. Tell President Obama, members of Congress, Mental Health Professionals and Patient Advocates that we want "No More' violence. "No More" senseless deaths. The 20 first grade students who had their lives taken away from them, were the future of this country. They still can be, if we all sign this petition today. They still can be, if we make our voices, and theirs, heard in Washington. Let's show them how much we still love them.