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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2017)
November 15, 2017 Page 13 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. O PINION Preventing Gun Deaths and Protecting Gun Rights Gun control shouldn’t be this hard J ill r iChardson Before the gun lobby or its sycophants in Con- gress bring out their usu- al talking points for why we can’t ever have common sense gun reform, I’d like to shoot one of them down. No pun intended. We just saw what happens when a bad guy with a gun is met by a good guy with a gun. In Sutherland Springs, Texas, when a mass shooter attacked churchgo- ers, he was eventually confronted by another armed civilian. But before the good guy got there with his gun, 26 people were fatally wounded. I’ve already heard discussions about fixing the problem by hav- ing more people bring guns to church, as the attorney general of Texas recently suggested. What about other ways to pre- vent gun deaths? How about any solution other than “more guns”? by Every time I hear discussions about one reform or another — universal background checks, banning high capacity magazines, banning assault rifles, etc. — I hear the ex- act same talking point: Criminals can get around those rules. You could ban as- sault rifles, or the high capacity magazines that allow people intent on mass murder to shoot more bullets before they need to stop to reload. Perhaps some criminals would just get them illegally. Not all mass shootings could have been prevented by back- ground checks. For example, the Sandy Hook shooter stole guns from his mother, who legally ac- quired them. Background checks wouldn’t have stopped him. Here’s the thing: These hypo- thetical arguments don’t need to be hypothetical. We can study them and make an informed choice. Which reforms will simultane- ously preserve freedom for hunt- ers, gun enthusiasts, and other law abiding citizens who want to own firearms while also keeping guns out of the hands of criminals? If there’s any will at all to re- duce the death toll from guns in this country — more than 33,000 deaths a year — no doubt the country that sent a man to the moon can figure out how to do it without violating citizens’ rights. Furthermore, just because a law may not prevent all shootings doesn’t mean it won’t prevent some shootings. I’ve even heard a gun advocate say that regulation won’t work because it would only stop people who are too stupid to get around them from obtaining a gun. You know what? That sounds good to me. If we can prevent ev- ery single shooting perpetrated by a stupid person, I’m for it. That’s still fewer people dying overall. It won’t get us down to zero, but re- fusing to do anything just because it’s a partial solution is ridiculous. Each little bit of progress we make is a human life saved. It’s an entire family whose lives aren’t torn apart and changed forever. It’s two fewer grieving parents and four fewer grieving grandpar- ents. It’s more children who grow up with their parents alive. I don’t have a stake in which method we use to reduce gun vi- olence so long as we pick some- thing that works. It would be nice if law-abiding gun enthusiasts would help. So let’s actually look at the data to find out how it can best be done. In fact, let’s lift the congressional ban that’s prevented the Centers for Disease Control from examining a lot of that data for the last 20 years. Preferably before another year passes and another 33,000 Ameri- cans are dead. OtherWords colum- nist Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It. Distributed by OtherWords.org. 5010 NE 9th Ave Portland, Or 97211 Phone: 503 284-2989 We specialize in a variety of cuts for men and women, hot towel razor shaves, braiding, hair extension, Shampoo, blow dryer and Platinum fade. Call Today or Walk in !!!