Want sensible gun control? Fight for it

By Dina Titus

Wednesday, June 29, 2016 | 2 a.m.

In June 2014, I asked my colleagues to join me in a moment of silence on the House floor to honor three members of the Las Vegas community who were slain in a shooting spree. The deceased were Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers Igor Soldo and Alyn Beck and a shopper at a Walmart who tried to help, Joseph Wilcox.

Unfortunately, I was not the first nor the last member to lead a moment of silence in the House to mourn lives lost due to gun violence.

We cannot let this go on any longer.

In Congress and around the country, we’ve had too many moments of silence followed by no action to fix the problem.

When House Democrats participated in a sit-in on the House floor last week, we weren’t just demanding a vote on common-sense legislation. We were calling for the nation to come together and say enough is enough. We were saying it’s time for action.

We know the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby in Washington are powerful, but if we join our voices together we will not be stopped.

Constituents across the U.S. have made it clear that it is time we adopt measures that will help us prevent gun violence. My office received hundreds of phone calls, emails, tweets, letters and other correspondence supporting gun-violence prevention.

The vigor and insistence from you all kept me going in the early-morning hours of the sit-in and will keep me going as I continue to fight for action.

Even though House Republicans adjourned for the Fourth of July recess, don’t think this is the end.

We will continue to apply pressure and fight on behalf of the millions of Americans who want change.

To that end, here’s how we can work together.

This weekend when your friends and family gather for Fourth of July picnics and barbecues, take a moment to tell them what’s at stake. Tell them why we must expand background checks to online sales and gun shows.

Tell them why people on the terrorist watch list shouldn’t buy guns.

It’s time the GOP listens to the overwhelming majority of the American people. So call, tweet and message your elected officials and tell them why you support reasonable and responsible measures to make communities safer.

Get on Facebook and share photos on Instagram. Together we can use the tools around us to make real change.

This debate is not about preventing legitimate gun ownership. It’s about doing more to prevent violence.

I’m a gun owner. I grew up in the South, where guns hang over most mantles. And now I live in the West, where guns are a major part of our culture. With more than 108,000 Americans shot every year, our nation has mourned the loss of too many innocent lives as a result of gun violence.

What we want is simple: Let’s expand background checks and make sure anyone on the no-fly list can’t buy a gun. Let’s do what we can to stop another massacre like we’ve seen in Orlando, Aurora, Newtown, Charleston and Las Vegas.

Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2009.