Lois Schaffer

My past activities include: employment as a grants writer for non-profit organizations; namely, the Pearl Lang Dance Foundation and the affordable housing developer; Kimmel Housing Foundation. I have participated in marches and rallies in support of civil rights and to protest the war in Vietnam. I have been a gun safety advocate my entire life helping to enact sensible gun safety legislation on the state and federal levels. I am a Long Island, New York resident. In 1993, Carolyn McCarthy's husband and son were shot in the Long Island Railroad massacre. Carolyn McCarthy's congressional candidacy was initiated after the massacre and I was totally involved in her campaign.Ironically, from an advocate, I became a victim but consider myself a survivor. My daughter, a single working mother was killed by a teenaged burglar in possession of a stolen handgun. I had to do something, not only to honor the memory of my daughter, but to use as a platform in protest of the easy accessibility if guns and the power and greed of the National Rifle Association. So, "The Unthinkable: Life, Loss and a Mother's Mission to Ban Illegal Guns" was written and published by the first rate publisher, The Brown Publishing Group. The book has provided me with many opportunities to speak at various venues to raise awareness of the escalation of gun violence and what our society can do to counteract it.

Articles:

Wife of Gun Victim Moves Toward Healing

The following is excerpted from From Bullet to Bullhorn: Stories of Advocacy Activism and Hope, by Lois Schaffer, a compilation of stories by 18 people located in various states throughout the U.S. These stories are indicative of human resilience, turning tragedies into advocacy, activism and the preservation of life. Trenelle Gabay: Brooklyn, New York: I found love. I imagined it, visualized it to come. We met. He chased me and I caught him. He peeled down walls until I started to fall in love with him. His words: “If you fall I will catch you.” He was a poet in […]

Art Brings Hope: Faces Not Forgotten

The following is excerpted from From Bullet to Bullhorn: Stories of Advocacy Activism and Hope, by Lois Schaffer, a compilation of stories by 18 people located in various states throughout the U.S. These stories are indicative of human resilience, turning tragedies into advocacy, activism and the preservation of life. Christine Ilewski Huelsmann: St. Louis Missouri: On May 16, 2009, I woke up to a phone call. A close friend, Fr. Lorenzo (Larry) Rosebaugh, OMI (a Missionary Oblate Immaculate priest) had been gunned down in Guatemala. There was no apparent motive. The car he was driving with three other priests was […]

Son’s Death Inspires Activism

The following is excerpted from From Bullet to Bullhorn: Stories of Advocacy Activism and Hope, by Lois Schaffer, a compilation of stories by 18 people located in various states throughout the U.S. These stories are indicative of human resilience, turning tragedies into advocacy, activism and the preservation of life. Ron and Norma Molen, Salt Lake City, Utah. whose son died from gun violence writes: Our son, Steven was murdered on April 23, 1992, on the fourteenth floor of the graduate dormitory at Indiana University. Steven was dating a graduate student who was being stalked by a German ex-boyfriend who was […]

Mother Responds to Gun Violence

Mother Responds to Gun Violence The following is excerpted from From Bullet to Bullhorn: Stories of Advocacy Activism and Hope, by Lois Schaffer, a compilation of stories by 18 people located in various states throughout the U.S. These stories are indicative of human resilience, turning tragedies into advocacy, activism and the preservation of life and justice. Mary Hennings, St. Louis, Missouri, speaks about how she survived gun violence. She was shot herself, and has lost two sons to gun violence. I have a strong belief in God. Taking lives that God created and devastating families, some dying from broken hearts […]

‘Crazy’ Grief Dreams Often the Most Profound

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life without them is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. — Langston Hughes. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge – myth is more potent than history – dreams are more powerful than facts – hope always triumphs over experience – laughter is the cure for grief – love is stronger than death. — Robert Fulghum. Dreams reflect the essence of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the human soul. In some cases they seem to seem to involuntarily express deepened feelings after the death of a loved one. […]

Sacred ‘Force’ Brings Contact Between Mother and Deceased Daughter

I have always appreciated connections, family and friends alike. After the death of my daughter, those connections became even more important. Sharing stories about her are cathartic and a means to keep her alive. Her death was traumatic. While I cannot negate the loss of anyone, it is that much more devastating when it is the loss of a child. Her death was sudden and senseless. She was a single working mother and a victim of gun violence. As a lifelong gun safety advocate, the shock of this event was unfathomable then as it is now, eleven years later. […]

Unthinkable

Excerpted from The Unthinkable: Life, Loss and a Mother’s Mission to Ban Illegal Guns, available on Amazon. Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life without them is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. — Langston Hughes I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge – myth is more potent than history – dreams are more powerful than facts – hope always triumphs over experience – laughter is the cure for grief – love is stronger than death. — Robert Fulghum Dreams reflect the essence of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the human soul. In some […]

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