Jennifer Bennett: Obama’s action will save lives

A few years ago my life was nearly shattered by gun violence when an attempted robbery in a hotel parking lot resulted in my husband being shot with a shotgun. The attacker had been convicted of violent crimes and yet was able to legally purchase a firearm because background checks are not required for shotguns.

I fully support our president’s executive action to reduce gun violence. It seems that there is a misconception regarding what this will mean for the average gun owner.

As long as someone is a law-abiding citizen, the executive action will not affect the ability to obtain a gun. It may increase the amount of time it takes to get a gun, but this is a rather small price to pay for public safety.

Restricting the access of criminals to dangerous weapons is not an attack on our right to own a gun. It is a sensible way to start to deal with our country’s epidemic of gun violence.

Will this executive action prevent all gun violence? Certainly no one is arguing that it will, but for those people who do not lose a spouse, child or parent to gun violence, it will make all the difference.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Jennifer Bennett: Obama’s action will save lives."