"Many people have suffered from the loss of loved ones.  It is hard when a person losses a child, let alone three.  Due to the senselessness of gun violence, I loss three strong young men.  My sons were striving to become accomplished leaders in the community.  My oldest son Xavier, was a hard worker who was brilliant with finances and holding the family together.  My twins were both writers.  Octavious was a songwriter and Kentavious was an author with dreams of turning his book into a motion picture.

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My desire is to reach those who carry and use guns senselessly.  I would like to encourage carriers to think positively about the future.  Although the future is not promised to anyone, clearly there is no future with guns, but there is positivity in working towards self-sufficiency and becoming productive citizens in life.  Careers such as engineers, coaches, teachers, lawyers, accountants, owning a business, and the military  also offers great rewards for those who wish to fight for our country.  Let's help rebuild the world by becoming creators and innovators.  A life of handling guns has the potential of ending in a travesty, often times ends in death.

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Let's make this world a blessed and safe place.  Dr. Martin Luther King gave his life for us to have freedom of choice.  He promoted non-violence so that we as a people could stand together as one.  My story, 'A Dream That Lives No More,' explains my struggle my drive to fight gun violence.  I continue to pray that our society will come together and stand up and fight against gun related crimes."

 

Written by Janice Ballard