Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

where i stand:

Let’s help ensure residents aren’t under the gun

Our country is under the gun.

If we have learned anything from this political season, it should be that motivated Americans can act in a way that threatens to disrupt “the way things are” and make needed changes. All it takes is a purpose.

Whether all of the sound and fury we are hearing on the campaign trail is the right way to make an impact remains to be seen. We are, after all, a country that has been designed for moderate, rational change over time with little tolerance for lurches to the extremes of the political spectrum.

There are some areas, of course, where change is needed and the demand for it is immediate. I believe gun violence is at the top of that list.

One of our great failings in America, and one that for too long has been neglected because of fear, ignorance or apathy, is the inability of our legislative branches to rationalize the rights conferred by the Second Amendment and the rights of all Americans to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Gay rights, women’s rights, rights of individuals to be free to pursue their dreams and the rights of all Americans to eat where they wish, stay where they wish and marry whom they choose are all important, and the evolution of those rights is indicative of an advancing civilization.

But none of those, I submit, is as precious as the right of a young child to be able to grow up free from the constant fear of being shot to death on the schoolyard, in the classroom, in a movie theater, in a church parking lot or anywhere else that has long been a violence-free zone in America. Until recently.

I am certain I am not the only grandfather or father who fears the phone call that says the school where a grandchild or child attends is on lockdown because some crazy person with an assault rifle or machine gun or whatever else he could get his hands on is shooting up the place.

I also know I am not the only person who dreads the call from authorities that informs us a child has been accidentally killed by a firearm that was too accessible in the home, or a spouse (usually a woman; Nevada ranks fourth in the country) has been killed by an irate or intoxicated husband.

Nevada has tried to do something, anything, to put a dent in the rising death toll attributed to guns in our country. The last effort by the Legislature was vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval for reasons that remain inexplicable given the continued insanity of gun violence.

So, like residents in other states, Nevadans have taken the matter into their own hands. This November, we will have the chance to actually do something about this senseless killing by voting yes on Question 1. It is, admittedly, a small step. But it is a giant leap forward for a country sick and tired of accepting the atrocity of nightly news reports of more children being gunned down where they played.

More than 90 percent of Americans want to close what is called the “gun show loophole,” and that is what Question 1 would do. As further proof of that desire, the petition to place this item on the November ballot got 250,000 Nevada signatures practically overnight!

Would Question 1 stop all of the gun violence? Of course not, but it would make a major dent in the death toll. And it would put us back on a course of sanity when it comes to our guns.

If anyone is the least bit confused about the relationship between our right to bear arms and the need to protect innocent people from those who desire to do harm or are mentally ill or unworthy of such an unfettered right, I have a suggestion that will put it all into perspective.

I saw a movie this past week called “Under the Gun.” It was directed by Stephanie Soechtig and produced and narrated by Katie Couric. It was a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. You cannot watch this documentary without demanding of yourself that you do something about this problem. And do it now.

The movie will be available for free screening May 15 on the Epix premium television channel's free preview weekend. Believe me, what you will learn will not only horrify you but make you incredibly angry.

Of course, the most difficult part of our movie evening this week was the parents who spoke afterward. Each of them had lost a child to senseless gun violence, and they have dedicated their lives to making sure none of the rest of us ever has to live their experiences.

But they can’t do it alone. They need the rest of us to act. And we can start to act by voting yes on 1 in November. We also can watch this film and learn for ourselves what we have allowed to be done in our name.

And, if you want to do more? Go to Nevadans For Background Checks at safenevada.org and learn how you can help stop the insanity.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Sun.

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