Dear Editor: Once again we watch with utter horror a news story about a child gunning down another child. Today’s shooting du jour of a six-year-old girl by a six-year-old classmate in a Michigan elementary school has left me feeling deeply saddened and horrified, but unfortunately not surprised. What kind of world do we live in when we are not surprised that a child can get his hands on a loaded gun and play “pow pow you’re dead,” with a classmate? These all too common scenes of children walking into schools with guns and shooting at others is just too much for the average mother to handle. Haven’t we all had enough? These children are not strangers. They are our children. It’s not enough for us to get on the phone when we hear about these gun tragedies and cry on our friends’ shoulders saying how terrible it all is and that something should be done about it. We, are they. And goodness help us all when a tragedy like this comes home to our own town. It’s just a matter of time. For the people who say we don’t need stricter gun laws, we just need to enforce the laws on the books, I say, wake up. I’m all for maximum enforcement of existing federal and state gun laws, but not a single federal law exists to close the gun show loophole. Congress shamefully failed to pass it last year, even in the aftermath of the bloodshed at Columbine, and even after a group of Columbine students testified on Capitol Hill and begged for our leaders to do something to protect them from future gun tragedies. We have yet to get a federal law or a law in a single state to mandate that all new guns be manufactured with fingerprint recognition technology. The so-called “Smart Gun” would only fire if used by its authorized owner. The technology could be on guns tomorrow-the gun manufacturing industry knows exactly how to do it-but it will not happen without a federal or state mandate. Until that happens, expect to hear more stories about little Johnny finding daddy’s loaded gun and you can fill in the rest of the sentence. To all the parents out there who keep guns in their homes because it provides some sense of security, remember that your gun is far more likely to be used by and against someone in your own home than against an intruder. Take a minute to consider that most children eventually find their parents’ hiding places no matter how good you think they are. As long as I have my say, my children will never play in a house that has a loaded gun sitting in the dresser drawer. It is for all these reasons that my family is packing up and heading to Washington, D.C. this Mother’s Day, May 14 for the Million Mom March. Mothers and grandmothers, step-mothers and god-mothers, fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers, god-fathers and children will be heading to our nation’s Capitol to utter a resounding cry to our lawmakers to say, in no uncertain terms, enough is enough. Protect our children once and for all and suffer the consequences at election time if you don’t. We cannot afford to do nothing when our children are crying out for us to protect them. We are they. I urge anyone who cares about the safety of children to visit the Million Mom March Web site at www.millionmommarch.com or call 1-888-989-MOMS to learn more about this national demonstration. Have your pancakes in bed on Saturday and ride a bus with your family to Washington on Sunday. What more fitting way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to make the country we love safer for the children we love. Debra Wachspress State Coordinator for New Jersey Million Mom March MillionMomNJ@aol.com