NC Rep: I’m ready to compromise with Republicans on guns

Newtown, Marysville, Parkland, Sante Fe, Oxford, Uvalde, and tomorrow a school near you.

Once again, we have witnessed previously unimaginable horror, and families in Uvalde, Texas, must live with the unthinkable reality that their children will never come home to them again.

Once again, a potentially preventable mass shooting at an American school has taken place because a powerful minority in this country believe that their right to own any gun at any time and under any circumstance is more important than your right to kiss your children goodnight. The Republican Party has hardened its collective heart in the face of repeated tragedies, determined to maintain the support and avoid the wrath of the gun lobby.

It is unsustainable and it is also correctable.

Common sense gun reforms, like universal background checks, “red flag” laws that allow weapons to be removed from threatening individuals, and restrictions on high-capacity magazines and military grade weapons, may not stop every mass shooting in this country, but they can significantly improve the odds. Taking weapons of mass killing off the streets decreased gun violence in the decade after 1994.

At what point did a less than 100% success rate become our barometer for giving up on trying to prevent mass murder? Why do Republican Governors, Republican Members of Congress, and Republican Senators hide behind the guise of protecting the Constitution instead of taking any action to save the lives of children in this country? As for the Constitution, all of the measures under debate are consistent with the Second Amendment under current court interpretations.

I recognize that I may support more restrictive gun control measures than some of my conservative colleagues may like, but I’m prepared to compromise if they are. I call on them now: Put your ideas on the table—ideas for keeping guns out of the wrong hands and taking military-grade weapons out of circulation. Put your ideas on the table, and then let’s talk, let’s negotiate, and let’s do our jobs!

It’s now been one week since the tragedy of Uvalde and since that time 18 more mass shootings have occurred in the U.S., yet I’ve yet to hear a single legitimate proposal from my Republican colleagues. Instead, they have suggested that schools should only have one entrance and exit – as though students fleeing fires or other natural disasters would not need to exit as fast as possible. Alternatively, they have suggested that we need to arm more teachers, ignoring completely the fact that an entire police force was afraid to enter Robb Elementary School because of the type of gun being used by the murderer.

The time for thoughts and prayers passed us by many slaughters ago—and the time to protect the youngest amongst us is once again upon us. The time to protect our schools, our grocery stores, our houses of worship is once again upon us. The time to stand up and take action to save lives is once again upon us. To do nothing would be callous and inhumane. To do nothing would shine a merciless spotlight on a Republican party that purports to stand up for life, but instead does nothing to protect those who are living. It’s time to make politics the instrument of our common purpose rather than a demonstration of obstruction and dysfunction.

This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 12:38 PM.