We’ve had far too many moments of silence in the five years since Sandy Hook. Our children and community deserve real action to stop the epidemic of gun violence. There are many simple yet powerful things we can do.

More and more of our neighbors are uniting to bring the change we need. The phones in Congress are ringing with calls for commonsense gun reform. Peaceful rallies are growing in numbers across the country. Families and friends are gathering in living rooms to talk about bringing violence prevention programs to their schools. The movement is growing.

There is reason to hope that we can prevent gun violence before it happens through sensible gun safety laws and programs that help identify the signs before a shooting happens, and intervene.

To keep this hope alive and bring the change we need, I ask everyone to take two simple actions. First, call your member of Congress and ask that he or she support gun violence prevention legislation to keep guns out of dangerous hands. Secondly, make the promise at www.sandyhookpromise.org and help bring violence prevention programs to our schools and community.

In memory of the Sandy Hook victims and their families, I am a committed Promise volunteer.

Kathleen O'Reilly-Wild

Niantic