We need to reduce gun violence

A few weeks ago I was honored to join Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham in Washington to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address as one of a group of 120 family members from around the country who are survivors of gun violence.

My experience as someone whose family was torn apart by gun violence as well as the mayor of a small town here in New Mexico led me to that important day.

My cause mirrors the president’s and hundreds of mayors’ across the country: protecting our communities and families from unaccountable and untraceable gun sales. In so doing we will reduce the violence that is now ripping apart communities from big cities to small towns across our nation.

It’s now estimated that 40 percent of U.S. gun sales are conducted by private, unlicensed sellers — often at gun shows — with no federal requirement that the buyer first pass a background check. That means the buyer could be a felon, a perpetrator of domestic violence, or a person who is mentally unstable. Under ordinary circumstances those are illegal sales — but the gun show loophole allows them to happen.

While a bipartisan coalition of mayors is working with the president on national gun legislation, we in New Mexico don’t have to wait for Congress to close the loopholes that now exist in holding gun offenders and irresponsible dealers accountable.

Recently the New Mexico House of Representatives passed House Bill 77, a bill that starts to close loopholes in our gun laws by requiring background checks at gun shows and connecting criminal and mental health databases to prevent dangerous or unstable people from obtaining firearms.

Though this law might not go far enough because it still does not call for private-sale background checks, it is a good start toward sensible gun reform in New Mexico. What’s more, the bill in its current form has won bipartisan support and a strong indication from Gov. Susana Martinez that she would sign this bill if it reached her desk.

Now the issue is in the hands of our New Mexico Senate. I am urging everyone who cares about this issue or who, like me, has seen the devastating impacts of gun violence firsthand, to call their state senator and ask them to support House Bill 77.

I understand leaders across the state have been facing unprecedented pressure from the NRA to reject any gun safety measures, no matter how sensible. But now is the time to stand up.

National surveys, like a recent one taken by Republican pollster Frank Luntz are finding that 82 percent of U.S. gun owners — including 74 percent of NRA members — support criminal background checks for all gun sales. The findings reflect the reality that – despite all the political bluster we hear, there is no conflict between these simple safety measures and the right to bear arms.

And if House Bill 77 can prevent even one New Mexican from dying needlessly because of gun violence, then I would surely call that a resounding success.

Gloria Chavez is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.