GUN SAFETY: THE ROAD AHEAD

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Clearly, there is a path forward, and it is at the state and local level—not the federal level. The Trump administration’s recent decision to reclassify bump stops as a machine gun allowing federal authorities to ban it is a tiny step forward, but it too little too late for people at the Las Vegas concert.

You, the reader, can make a difference by joining the growing number of voices of concerned Americans demanding some measures to curb the slaughter. It will take thought; imagination, patience, and determination make our lives safer.

More and more, people are finding ways to keep firearms out of public venues. Moms Demand Action have taken the gun issue to large retailors and are asking large retailors to prohibit customers from carrying guns into their locations. The threat of a boycott gets businesses attention. Moms Demand Action has been successful with Starbucks, Target, Chipotle, Jack in the Box, and Sonic Drive-In, just to mention a few.

Curbing gun violence has made progress, albeit it is slow—almost all of it at the state and local levels. Here is an example; Washington State passed Initiative 594 by a wide margin. The measure requires criminal background checks on all firearms sales and transfers in the state including at gun shows and on the Internet.

Initiative 594 does not undercut one aspect of the Second Amendment; it should be adopted in all 50 state. If 594 had been in place in 2007 in Virginia, Seung-Hui Cho almost certainly would not have been able to buy a gun and slaughter 32 people and wound 17 others at Virginia Tech. (To be continued)