I am so tired of the platitudes of our elected officials who wring their hands when we have a mass shooting, and frankly, I am just plain mad. Empty statements such as “I’m praying for the families” or “It’s too soon for legislation” or “It’s a constitutional right to own an AR-15 or a bump stock” or “People kill; guns don’t” have no meaning for someone who has just lost a loved one.

To turn the attention away from gun proliferation to mental health issues is a diversion. A person can be antisocial enough to kill but not ill enough to be certified by a judge, or even brought into the jurisdiction of a judge to prevent him from purchasing a gun. And truthfully, those legally certified are often too ill to carry out such a plan. We definitely don’t want to create laws that will discourage people from seeking mental health services.

There are ways to reduce the number of deaths by firearm in this country as other countries have done. Lawmakers are all too much in the pockets of the NRA to do anything useful. I can’t believe that their solution is more guns in the schools. Can you imagine your child being caught in a crossfire during an argument? I will not vote for Rep. Bruce Poliquin or any other candidate who has been a supporter of unrestricted possession of guns.

Marilyn Burgess

Leeds


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