The one thing that should help us agree on gun control
It is 3 a.m., and I’m wide awake. I’ve got a busy clinic in the morning and should be sleeping, but all I can think about is the safety of my boys, who are 5 months and 4 years old. The horrific imagery of the Orlando shooting is racing through my mind. Memories of Columbine, Sandy Hook, Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino and other countless violent acts have become a permanent part of the landscape of our society.
As a young parent, I think about how things have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. In 1997, I graduated from Chapel Hill High School. My graduation gift was a backpacking trip across Europe. My sister, a close childhood friend and I set out on a journey of epic proportions across Europe. We visited London, Brussels, Munich, Berlin, Prague, Salzburg, Venice, Paris, Nice and Amsterdam. We met friends new and old along the way. We ate, drank and had the time of our lives. We hopped onto planes and trains without the slightest concern about a hijacking, suicide bombing or mass shooting.
The travel experience had a profound impact on me. I learned to love the unpredictability and novelty of travel as well as the beauty in experiencing other cultures. It is my fondest wish that this kind of experience is one my sons will have someday. Yet I have the hardest time thinking I would ever be comfortable with such a trip now.
Gun control is an issue about the safety of children everywhere. It should have no relationship to partisan politics or be subject to political pressures. Local and national leaders must put aside political aspirations and think about the one thing that always matters – the life of a child.
Taking the position that gun control will not help is shameful and shortsighted. The fact that a person investigated by the FBI for potential terrorist links is capable of buying any type of firearm, let alone a military-style assault weapon, is preposterous.
It is time for government leaders to act. Set politics to the side. Outlaw the public sale of military-style weaponry now. Requiring background checks before allowing the purchase of firearms is imperative. Anyone should agree to this step in the right direction. This is a growing problem, and our children deserve so much better than what we are providing them.
Richard Salmony is a physician assistant in Durham.
This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "The one thing that should help us agree on gun control."