Come together on gun laws

I couldn't remember the exact date of last year's Newtown, Conn., shooting in which 20 sweet children were killed, so I went looking.

It was Dec. 14, 2012. That's when Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother, then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School where he shot and killed 20 children and 6 adults before killing himself.

As a mother, I'm haunted by what those children felt as the first shots rang through the school. I know from experience that children are innocent so maybe they didn't know what the sounds meant, maybe they didn't know what was coming? I wish I could believe that.

I grew up in a violent home and spent my childhood years dodging violent people wielding belts and bats and yes, even guns.

I personally witnessed four deaths by gunshot, one of them a friend who died in my arms.

Which reminds me of 6-year-old Noah Pozner, one of the children Lanza killed last December. At Noah's funeral, his mother insisted on an open coffin so people could see what bullets do to human flesh.

Like Mrs. Pozner, I'd like people to know that death by gunshot isn't what you see in movies - it's ugly, it's shocking, it smells. And you know what? It's not always the bad guy who gets it. Sometimes it's an innocent such as Noah or my friend, Jamie.

Please let's come together over common sense gun violence prevention laws.

Please.

Cate Barker

Cedar Rapids