The time is now for gun reform

To the Times:

Every time there is a mass shooting my PTSD kicks in.

I was shot 30 years ago in a church in Chester County by a man I had never met.

The bullet entered my spinal cord and destroyed nerves as it deflected down about 4 inches. I am lucky to be alive and lucky to have relearned how to walk, but the resulting sensory damage has been intensely painful for the past 30 years.

I suffered from PostTraumatic Stress Disorder, complete with nightmares, shaking and clouded mind, which I thought was only experienced by soldiers. My home life where I had two toddlers was in disarray – if they touched my hypersensitive leg I would flinch away, distressing them and myself. And I was disillusioned spiritually by being shot in a church, which

I had always considered a safe place.

Every time there is another shooting my heart and spirit are hurt again. Our country should not be the leader in gun violence among developed nations. We should not have to tolerate children being shot in schools, teens being shot at rec areas, friends being shot at grocery stores, women being killed by abusive partners, and depressed people having easy access to the most “successful” way to die by suicide.

Now is the time for change, both of our culture and our laws, and we can do this without impinging on the rights of responsible gun owners. In deciding that the Second Amendment extends to and protects the rights of individuals, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, “Like most rights, the Second

Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

Polls have shown that over 70% of Americans, both gun owners and nonowners, agree that we should have Background Checks for every gun sale, Extreme Risk Protection Orders in order to temporarily remove guns from those who are considering suicide, and Training prior to first gun purchase so the new gun owners learn how to both handle and store guns responsibly.

These bills are being proposed in the Pennsylvania House and Senate. Let’s get them passed now. Thoughts and prayers are not stopping the carnage.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Tributes surround a police cruiser placed in honor of fallen officer Eric Talley outside the Boulder Police Department Thursday in Boulder, Colo. Talley and nine others were killed in a shooting at a supermarket on Monday.