Our country is in the midst of a severe epidemic of gun violence. Common sense dictates that our representatives in Congress need to pass legislation to help reduce this epidemic.

Unfortunately, large numbers of our representatives — mostly Republicans but also some Democrats — are so afraid of the National Rifle Association (NRA) that they refuse to consider any such legislation. Their refusal to act puts all of us in greater danger as the frequency of mass shootings continues to escalate.

The type of action needed is clear — an abundance of research has demonstrated that when background checks are expanded, gun violence goes down (for a compelling overview of this research, see www.washingtonpost.com: April 3, 2013: “Why expanding background checks would, in fact, reduce gun crime”).

The NRA, of course, is opposed to any gun control legislation, including proposals to close the gaping “private gun show” loophole that allows large numbers of dangerous individuals to purchase guns without having to submit to a background check.

How many more people have to die before our congressional representatives stop cowering before the NRA and have the courage to close these loopholes?

Now is the time for we the people to insist on immediate action by congress to reduce gun violence. We need to inundate our elected representatives with urgent demands for effective legislation. If they refuse to act we need to vote them out of office, and elect people who will take the needed steps to reduce the gun violence epidemic.

This epidemic has gone on for much too long. The time for effective action is now!

 

Shari Del Mariani

Stevensville