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 !!!