Letter to the Editor

Editor:
The majority of Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike—want commonsense gun-control measures to protect innocent school children such as those murdered in Uvalde, Texas.

The Gun Violence Research Center recommends additional studies on this growing public health threat.

Unfortunately, the National Rifle Association has been violently opposed to such studies, resulting in an end to federally funded gun-control research and politicians blocking passage of data-proven legislation to combat gun violence.

Nonetheless, research-based evidence suggests the following measures:
• Require a license and comprehensive firearm safety training for gun ownership.
• Ban large capacity magazines for automatic weapons—and ammunition-feeding devices for semi-automatic weapons—and require the same background checks for ammo purchases as for gun purchases.
• Raise the minimum age to purchase guns to 21 (the federal drinking age). The peak age for violent interactions with a firearm is 18-21. (Florida’s Republican legislature did just that after the Parkland school shooting.)
• Enact a national “red flag” law, allowing law enforcement to confiscate firearms from individuals a court deems dangerous to themselves or others.

Pennsylvania has NONE of these laws. Let’s get them passed!
David Hogg, a Parkland survivor, says, “Focus on what we can agree on.” Americans have worked together to reduce traffic fatalities through seat belt and drunk-driving campaigns—we can do this, too.

To learn more, check out websites for Moms Demand Action, Everytown, CeaseFirePA, Brady United (“Take Action, Not Sides”) and Gun Sense Candidates in PA. And let your legislator know this issue is critically important to you!

Rose & Dan Reeder
Lock Haven, PA