Why the kids are right in gun debate; action needed
his Saturday, thousands of students and activists joined together in the March for Our Lives, protesting Congress’ inaction implementing gun safety laws. The students organizing the march are brave, resilient, inspirational, and resourceful. And they are right.
Passing sensible gun control laws is not a partisan issue. Over 33,000 Americans die every year due to gun violence, with more than 3,000 of those being children and teenagers. Working at the US Attorney’s Office, I saw firsthand the damage that these weapons can render. I worked to take military weapons out of the hands of offenders.
I have handled these weapons of war and shown jury members – regular, everyday people – AR-15s, AK-47s, and Tec-9s. I have seen their shock when they see what those guns are and what they’re designed to do – slaughter large amounts of people at a rapid pace.
I have three young children who have had to learn about the threat of gun violence far before they should need to face these problems. I have heard them talk about their school drills, practicing hiding in closets and bathrooms, and I have mourned their loss of innocence, and their tragic confronting that someone could want to hurt them.
I think of the parents of students at Parkland and at Newtown; I think of the students at Birmingham high schools and universities; I think of the young girl who was murdered a week ago in Maryland.
I consider all this, and I am emboldened to push for change so that my children can live in an America that never has to grieve for these types of victims again.
Congress must act to address the epidemic of gun violence in this country. They should start by banning weapons of war, such as the AR-15s, Tec-9s, and AK47s, from private ownership. These guns’ intent, as with others with largecapacity magazines, is to murder as many people as quickly as possible. Banning bump stocks is a start, but not enough. We should enact an assault weapons ban.
Congress should further expand background checks to help prevent legal guns from falling into the wrong hands. This entails expanding our system to cover all commercial firearm sales, including at gun shows, over the internet, or in classified ads. I have prosecuted criminals who purchased guns out of state and transported them across state lines. We need to empower the CDC to study gun violence as a health issue by providing proper funding. We need evidence-based solutions to a major security problem. Funding research into those solutions is a common-sense measure to ensure our personal and children’s safety.
Throughout our country’s history, young people have spearheaded our continual drive toward self-improvement. It is time that our leaders learned to listen to them and ensured the safety of our families, our children, and our communities.
“I have three young children who have had to learn about the threat of gun violence far before they should need to face these problems.” — Ashley Lunkenheimer