Gun violence survivors: Question 1 will help protect Nevadans

Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Editor's note: With Election Day on the horizon, the Sun is presenting a special package of guest columns today from supporters of Ballot Question 1, which would expand background checks for firearms purchases. The Sun endorses the measure. In this column, survivors of victims of gun-related violence share their perspective on the issue.

A year ago, we were strangers. We shared a common experience but did not yet know it. That common experience is one that we don’t want any person to ever know — the death of a loved one by gun violence.

Question 1 may not have saved the life of our loved one, but we have spent many hours in recent months working in support of closing the background check loophole because we know it will make a difference to another family, a family that can be spared the pain and the grief that we know all too well because it still lingers — every single day.

There isn’t a day that goes by when we don’t wake up and miss our loved one or think about their death. You never get over it, but you do go on. We turn our grief into action and fight for common sense gun laws that make all of us safe. That’s why we are voting Yes on Question 1 and why we ask you to join us.

“As someone who has witnessed gun violence at our schools first-hand, I can tell you that moments like that make you stop and reflect, and want to be the best person you can be. I can’t change what happened that day, but I can get involved and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Question 1 won’t prevent every gun tragedy, but it will help keep guns out of dangerous hands and that’s something I believe in.”

— Ben Tucker, teacher and Sparks Middle School shooting survivor

“As someone who lost a younger sibling to suicide by gun many years ago, I can unequivocally state that the grief and pain never goes away — it just goes to a different place. As a teacher, and now a mental health professional for almost 20 years, I work with the families of gun violence victims. Their stories pierce your heart forever. Their burden is not a few minutes of being inconvenienced by going through a background check; their burden is saying goodbye to a loved one killed too soon and then living with the heartache forever. I will never stop working to lessen the indescribable pain of these families.”

— Linda P. Cavazos, M.S., Marriage and Family Therapy, Las Vegas

“As parents who have had their 17-year-old son ripped from their lives over 12 years ago, we are still coming to grips with why he had to die such a senseless gun violence death. His murderer, better known to us as a coward, traveled from California to an Arizona gun show to purchase a TEC-9 with a 50-round clip. He had it modified to be fully automatic and emptied it into the vehicle our son was a passenger in, for what the authorities determined to be road rage. We support Question 1 in the hopes that no one else should endure the heartache that we have been through because of loopholes in our current laws. Join us in voting yes on Question 1.”

— Jenny and Bert Heyman, Carson City residents

“I am a mother, wife and a gun owner. I am also a survivor and an advocate working hard to make our communities safer. Universal background checks are one way to help reduce unnecessary gun violence. Being complacent breeds an environment in which these senseless deaths continue. If you are a responsible gun owner, please do the responsible thing and vote yes on Question 1.”

— Darchel Mohler, Las Vegas resident and mother of Brooklynn Mae Mohler, who was shot and killed by a friend on June 4, 2013, with an unsecured firearm

“I have learned much, grieved much and endured much through the journey of being a victim of crime, when my 22-year-old son Mikey was brutally shot and killed in 2011 by a young man with many priors and a police record. Crime is a violation of people and relationships. It creates an obligation to make things right for the victim and their families. Justice involves the victim, the offender and the community in search for solutions, which promote repair, reconciliation and reassurance. Voting yes on Question 1 is part of the solution to the problem of senseless gun violence that plagues our communities. It certainly will not bring my son back but if we can prevent guns being sold to people who have a history of violence and keep lives from being destroyed, this is our first step in the right direction.”

— Cynthia Portaro, victim of gun violence and Las Vegas resident

“It sounds cliché, but it’s much better to be safe than to be sorry. I lost a grandchild before he had the chance to take his first breath because of senseless gun violence. This happened because someone was able to buy a gun without a background check and then use that gun illegally. I am thankful every day that my daughter-in-law, Lisa, survived this attack. My grandson, who was a 7-month-old fetus at the time, did not survive. It did not have to happen. And I do not want anyone else to ever know this feeling. Vote yes on Question 1 for a safer Nevada.”

— Bilal Shabazz, gun violence survivor and resident of Las Vegas