To all state and federal lawmakers, be they conservative or progressive, male or female, pro- or anti-firearm:

The children of your country have called BS on your inaction, your inability to protect them and the rest of society from preventable slaughter. We, the grandparents of those children, stand alongside them in calling BS, too. Although the Florida students are not actually our grandchildren, they could be. Nearer to your homes, they could be yours, or your very own children.

This is happening now. A spark has been lit. There is a rising tide of incredulous disbelief at your inaction, there is a rising tide of other voices directed at you, there is a rising tide of frustration and fury, and there is an election coming in the fall.

Those of you who have accepted National Rifle Association donations to your campaigns, those of you who continue to accept those donations, you will be called out for taking blood money. Now is when it must stop. The NRA does not work to support the well-being of this country. Its work is to pay obeisance to the firearms industry and to achieve its own greedy goals of money and power. Its work undermines our well-being and has been terribly effective in supporting our worst nightmares.

The time has come to see this situation in black and white. This country is unique for its many positive aspects, but at the moment it is unique for one overriding black eye that has haunted us for years: the loss of sane and sensible firearms control. We will continue to call BS until you finally listen and act.

Bill and Susan Carter

Yarmouth