As the lead petitioner for the gun control bylaws which will be voted upon at the Longmeadow Town Meeting on May 10, I would like to challenge you to a public debate on the proposed bylaws. I would propose that we have a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate, a format that was used when Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln ran for the Illinois Senate seat in 1858 and the sole topic of their debates was slavery. One party would have 10 minutes to state his/her case, the other party would have 20 minutes to respond, and the first party would have 10 minutes of rebuttal.

This would be a valuable opportunity to engage in a respectful debate about an issue that involves over 30,000 deaths due to gun violence on an annual basis.

Alex Grant
Longmeadow