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Guns’ staggering death toll in America

September 22, 2017
Editorial

The Sept. 19 editorial "A preventable disaster" was correct; every American child shot is a "preventable disaster." But instead of acting, Congress is going in the wrong direction. Next week, the House will consider the Share Act, a bill that continues the gun lobby's march to end all firearm safety regulation. This bill would remove restrictions on silencers, the tool of snipers and assassins, and armor-piercing bullets, which were originally outlawed by the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1985.

Members of Congress who survived this year's shooting in Alexandria noted that the sound of gunfire saved their lives by alerting them to take cover. What would have happened if the shots were muffled by a silencer?

Instead of working to save the lives of American children, Congress will vote to make cop-killing bullets legal. Why? Millions of NRA dollars.

In June, I pledged to read the names of 5,950 gun violence victims into the congressional record, one for every dollar House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) took from the NRA. Sadly, I have no shortage of names.

If dead children cannot motivate action, perhaps the shameful truth will.

Robin L. Kelly, Washington

The writer, a Democrat, represents Illinois's 2nd Congressional District and is the vice chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

Read the original in the Washington Post.

Issues:Gun Violence