Linda Gunter: Twisting the truth on Ross’ record

In 1994, I wrote and introduced legislation in the N.C. General Assembly to establish our state’s first sex-offender registry. My goal was simple: Keep children and families safe from sexual predators by making sure their whereabouts were known.

Deborah Ross, who is running for the United States Senate, has recently been the subject of shameful and misleading attacks from her opponent, Sen. Richard Burr, on this very issue. Burr claims that Ross opposed the creation of a sex-offender registry, though nothing could be further from the truth.

Ross has never opposed the idea of a sex-offender registry. She supported my bill that would have established a sex-offender registry. Her goal, like mine, was to keep children and families safe. She understood, however, that in order for a registry to be created and stand the test of time, it would have to pass legal not just legislative scrutiny. She also understood that in order for a registry to actually protect children, it would have to protect the names of victims, many of whom are family members and share a name with the offender.

In typical politician fashion, Burr is now twisting Ross’ concerns with the legislation in an effort to make it seem like she is opposed to a sex-offender registry and would not be trustworthy to keep children and families safe.

Although my political beliefs seldom aligned with Burr’s, I did respect him. Not anymore. Children, especially victims of heinous sexual crimes, are not political pawns, and Burr should be ashamed of this line of attack.

Ross has championed efforts to protect women and children. In the General Assembly, she worked to keep sexual predators off of social media sites and helped make sure law enforcement had the tools it needed to track sex offenders. She passed domestic violence reforms and wrote several laws to help victims of sexual assault.

Burr, on the other hand, voted against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women’s Act, which would have provided federal dollars to help prevent violence against women, children and families.

If you want to know who will stand up for you and your family in the United States Senate, you don’t have to rely on a politician’s attack advertisement. Their records speak for themselves.

The length limit was waived to permit a fuller response to the issue.

This story was originally published June 20, 2016 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Linda Gunter: Twisting the truth on Ross’ record."