Gun Control Legislation

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 2^nd 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.