We lost 50 innocent lives in a mass shooting in Orlando, Fla. The media are in a frenzy as they try to unravel the twisted mind of the killer. The world wants answers. Here is what I do know:
• The U.S. leads the world in gun ownership with 88.8 guns per 100 residents.
• The U.S. leads the world in mass shootings.
• Ninety percent of Americans support background checks of gun purchasers.
• Halfway through 2016, the U.S. has already had 136 mass shootings (in 2015 we had 372), and almost 6,000 deaths from gun violence.
Rather than acknowledging we have a problem, and trying to attempt to fix that problem, the National Rifle Association spent almost $3.5 million lobbying in 2014, as well as contributing significant amounts of money to politicians, including our own Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas. In 2010, she received $4,950 in contributions from the NRA, in 2012 it was $2,500, and in 2014 it was $2,000 totaling almost $10,000 in the past six years. And to top it off, she was one of the 282 representatives to oppose a gun-reform bill that would tighten background checks on gun purchases.
We cannot continue to allow the NRA to misrepresent proposed reform by spreading false fears that “the government will take our guns away.” We want dialogue, we want research, we want responsible gun policies. More importantly, Clark County cannot continue to vote for representatives who do not support responsible gun ownership.
