October 3, 2017
To Whom It May Concern:
Now is the time for strict background checks and effective
gun control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons and high capacity
magazines, and a gun buyback program to ensure a safe America.
In 2013 the gun debate became personal for me when an
anonymous note was found in my child’s Colorado class naming 3 boys to be
killed. Until then, our family had
discussed the tragic killings in the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre and
Newtown, Connecticut school as rare terrible losses, yet tragedy struck again
as our hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado experienced two more mass
shootings in a span of 3 months in late 2015.
Again, gun violence resonated in the early morning of June 2016 in my
family’s hotel in Portland, OR, where we were living during our relocation. Shots were fired in an adjacent hotel room
right outside our window. With each
occurrence I have pleaded with my congressional legislators for stricter gun
controls, as I couldn’t live with the regret of inaction.
I sit numb today as the Las Vegas death toll rises from
the deadliest shooting in America to date.
Every threat of violence needs to be taken seriously, and as a mother of
four children personally affected by gun violence, I live in fear that it’s
only a matter of time before our schools and my family are riveted again.
In 1996, Australia passed a law prohibiting the ownership,
possession, sale and importation of automatic and semi-automatic guns,
following a brutal massacre that killed 35 innocent people. Australia’s 1996 reforms not only reduced the
gun related suicide rate, but the homicide rate as well. In the 18 years before the 1996 reforms,
Australia suffered 13 gun massacres, causing a total of 102 deaths. There has not been a single massacre since
the 1996 assault weapons ban in Australia.
However, not a day goes by that there isn’t another shooting of innocent
American civilians.
Mental health is certainly a component of gun violence, yet
in February 2017 President Donald Trump signed a bill into law revoking gun
checks for people with mental illness. Mental
health professionals are often unaware of the premeditated massacres, and the
Obama-era regulation revoked by President Trump would’ve made it harder for
people with mental illness to purchase a gun.
I have personally lost two family members to suicide (one gun related)
and can testify that in both cases, mental health doctors were unaware of their
intent. Criminal punishment for gun
massacres does not seem to be a deterrent in our society where news is
sensational, violent images are readily accessible, and the perpetrators of gun
violence are rarely caught alive or convicted as sane individuals. As such, common sense backed by statistics dictates that strong
legislation making it difficult for those with mental illness to purchase a gun
would reduce mass shootings.
Overall, background checks and gun registration need to be
more stringent, states need to share information and there needs to be a
campaign for responsible gun ownership. This, however, will never address the illegal
‘iron pipeline’ of weapons being smuggled into states and ending up in the
hands of owners who do not legally submit to background checks.
The 2nd Amendment was written to provide for the common
defense and the general welfare of the United States through the ability to
bear arms to raise and support militias using muskets, bayonets and rifles. I believe we can reasonably uphold the 2nd
Amendment for recreational hunting purposes, rather than arming militias and providing
self-protection with assault weapons. Assault weapons and high capacity
magazine cartridges are weapons for destruction and for use by the military in
war zones, not hunting; when they are used in a mass shooting, more than twice
the number of people are shot and killed, than with handguns. Gun crimes involving assault weapons
statistically declined following America’s 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban,
however, it expired in 2004. Such a ban significantly
decreased the frequency of deadly massacres that occurred in our country and
other countries, while allowing firearms for recreational hunting purposes.
Only a “government sponsored weapons buyback” program of
targeted guns in conjunction with an assault weapons ban and high capacity
magazine ban will remove guns of mass destruction from our streets and
significantly reduce the rate of massacre in our country. Gun buyback programs have been proven to mobilize
communities and incentivize gun owners to surrender their weapons around the world,
without persecution. Guns retrieved are
destroyed, decreasing their accessibility while putting cash in the hands of
consumers. Nearly 4,800 guns were
collected during an August 2017 New Jersey gun buyback, including 129 assault
weapons at the highest payout of $200 each.
More guns were collected in this two-day gun buyback event in 3 New
Jersey cities than across the state in a single year through law-enforcement
arrests and seizures, at a state cost of $500k, according to the Courier News. A small price for life, if you ask me!
Additionally, a “Campaign for Gun Safety for the
Protection and Freedom of America’s Children” could be initiated to raise at
least $2 for every dollar raised by the NRA.
This would fund the election of candidates for stricter gun control and
lessen the power and influence of the NRA as a political lobbying force; allowing
elected officials to vote with their conscience rather than their campaign
coffers.
Nothing worth doing is ever easy! What will your legacy be? It’s time that our country took a bold stance
on gun control; this should not be a political election issue. The reduction in gun violence is an American
bi-partisan issue spanning many decades. Acts of domestic terrorism are occurring with increasing frequency all across
our country. How long before your family
is personally affected? As an American I
demand congressional action now for stricter gun control legislation.
