To the Editor:
Our thoughts and prayers are with state of Virginia and the families, friends, and colleagues of Alison Parker and Adam Ward killed on live television. I also send well wishes to Vicki Gardner who was injured in that deadly shooting.
This scene — a horrifying depiction of what gun violence looks like every single day — dropped into our lives even if we did not want to know about it. But pretending like gun violence isn’t all around us will not keep us safe.
For too long we have looked away and now gun violence is so pervasive that every day 88 Americans are killed with firearms and hundreds more are injured because dangerous people have easy access to guns.
No single change alone is going to solve everything but that does not mean we should not act. We can save lives with common-sense measures like background checks that keep guns away from dangerous people. These checks however, can no longer have loopholes that let guns be sold before the check is complete or which allow online sales without any check at all.
An America where people are gunned down at work, church, school, or at the movies is not the country we need nor the country our children deserve. Its time to demand common sense gun reform that balances the Second Amendment with the safety of those who chose not to own a gun and that of those who do so responsibly.
Regina Sanchez
Alexandria