Gun Owners Must Prioritize Gun Safety at the Ballot Box
When voting this November, I’ll be thinking about gun violence prevention and who supports policies that will save lives. I urge my fellow responsible gun owners to do the same.
I spent 20 years working in the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
When I worked the streets, I wore a gun on my waist and one on my ankle. I still own and train with guns to be able to use them for self-defense.
While I support the Second Amendment, I also believe everybody has the right not to be shot at the grocery store, the movies, or a concert. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have a platform to save lives from gun violence. Donald Trump doesn’t.
Though I’ve lived in Nevada for the past 23 years, I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. My town had a strong gun and hunting culture. Every year, school was closed the first Monday after Thanksgiving so we could go hunting.
Then in 1999, my own life was touched by gun violence when my best friend in the DEA took his life. I didn’t know at the time that suicide actually makes up the majority of gun deaths in the US. Even though guns are used in a relatively small percentage of suicide attempts, they account for a majority of American suicide deaths because of how lethal guns are.
That’s why gun safety laws like waiting periods, secure storage, and extreme risk protection order laws are so important. Suicide is often a split-second decision, restricting firearm access when people are in distress can save their lives.
I joined GIFFORDS Gun Owners for Safety after I read an article about former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011. Given the ongoing tsunami of gun violence, I wanted to try to make a difference.
Becoming a parent makes you the most vulnerable you’ll ever be because you don’t want to lose your children. I married another DEA agent, and my wife and I had two boys. As school shootings got more and more common, that started to wear on me. It’s one of many reasons why I support secure gun storage, universal background checks, and licensing requirements.
Back when I was training to become a DEA agent, I spent 16 weeks in the DEA academy, which included 50–100 hours of training and 7,500 rounds shot before I was allowed to carry a gun. It’s not unreasonable to ask people who want to carry a gun to know how to use it. They should also understand what it takes to pull the trigger when it’s pointed at another human being.
Many of my friends are former law enforcement or former military and they feel similarly to me. It’s part of our culture to own guns, but not for Americans to kill each other—or themselves—with guns.
As a registered Independent, I get all kinds of literature. Republican literature doesn’t talk about reducing gun violence. When Trump was president, he had the opportunity to support gun law reform at the federal level after the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, the largest act of mass murder in United States history. Three days after the shooting, when Trump was asked about possible legislative action on guns, he said, “We’re not going to talk about that today.” After leaving office, he bragged to the NRA that he “did nothing” to stop gun violence.
I recently got two tickets for a Trump rally and decided to go out of curiosity. I didn’t make it in because I didn’t get there early enough, but outside of the venue there were multiple gun-related signs. I saw one advertising machine gun rentals, and another sign that read: “God, guns, guts. Made in America. Let’s keep all three.”
Contrary to what the gun lobby would have you believe, not all gun owners support open carry or oppose all gun laws. While there’s a small but vocal minority advocating that sort of anything-goes culture, I’m convinced there are way more responsible gun owners out there.
When voting this November, I’ll be thinking about gun violence prevention and who supports policies that will save lives. I urge my fellow responsible gun owners to do the same.
ELECTIONS
GUN SAFETY PRESIDENT
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have demonstrated their commitment to fighting gun violence again and again, making gun safety a top priority in their campaign. We’re proud to stand with them in this must-win race, and we hope you will too.
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