We are Islanders from various backgrounds with a fairly broad range of political viewpoints. But we agree that the drum beating prevalence of gun violence has reached the tipping point. We are afraid for our families, our community and our country.

Last fall our book club held a yard sale to send The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence a good sized check to support their decades-old efforts to address the incomprehensible reverence for guns in our country — especially assault guns that mow down innocent children, women and men; guns that are mail order, simply assembled by the buyer without a background check; guns that are not held in secure places and cause needless deaths every day.

The United States is suffering a dire public health crisis. According to Brady statistics, 321 people are shot and 111 killed every day in grocery stores, synagogues, churches, elementary and high schools, parades, concerts, at the beach, inside our own homes and outside in our backyards. Sixty five people a day die by gun suicide.

Those of us who are seniors grew up walking the streets with no fear of guns which are now the weapons of war. We are at a critical time in this country when at any moment disturbed people can decide to kill because there is no stopping them. School teachers plan strategies all year long to protect our students; hospitals are on constant alert to maintain safety even as their emergency rooms fill up with the victims. Government buildings and psychiatric facilities need constant surveillance to counter incipient attacks.

On July 8 at the Howland barn next to the Tisbury town hall, a citizen effort to support The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence will slide open its venerable door to sell old art, new art, children’s art, old jewelry and new jewelry in a concerted effort to show our determination to ban assault weapons and promote responsible gun ownership.

In the center's own words, “The Brady Center works across Congress, the courts and communities, with over 90 grassroot chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. It unites Americans on both sides of the aisle in the fight against gun violence. Brady’s mission is to reduce the rates of gun violence in the U.S. by 25 per cent by 2025 using a three-part strategy of litigation, legislation and education.”

Please join us on July 8 at the Howland barn from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to declare our resolve to save this country.

The writers are residents of Vineyard Haven.