We have repeated mass murders even where there are guns available and people trained to use them.
What could have prevented the 2011 Tucson (Arizona) shooting where the U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot (six people died)?
What could have prevented the mass shooting that occurred on July 20, 2012 at a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where 12 people were killed and 58 others injured?
We should not ignore that the key to gun safety is regulating the guns.
The second Amendment is not under attack, it has never been under attack.
We do not ignore car safety saying cars do not kill people, drivers do.
The solution is better gun control.
First, Congress should pass the Fix Gun Checks Act, which would close the “private sale loophole.” It would require every gun buyer to pass a background check.
Second, it is time to pass an enforceable and effective assault weapons ban. A previous ban expired in 2004, and even though President George Bush supported reinstating it, Congress never acted. Congress should also ban the high-capacity magazines that have been used again and again in many mass shootings.
Third, the president and Congress should work together to make gun trafficking a felony – as Senator Gillibrand, Congressmember Carolyn Maloney, and others have proposed.
Let’s stand together for the kids and teachers of Newtown and the Americans that die from senseless gun violence on a daily basis in our country perpetrated by people with unregulated access to guns, tools designed to kill.
A. V.,
South Ozone Park
