Letter: Support people over politics, support weapons ban

Mass gun violence is painful to address, but U.S. Rep. Sean Casten’s Gun Violence Prevention Town Hall with Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie was killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, was inspiring. The themes were community safety and outreach.

After telling the heart-wrenching story of his daughter’s murder with an AR-15, Guttenberg said, “I don’t hate guns; I don’t hate gun owners or the Second Amendment. I hate gun violence – the easy access to guns to those who intend harm.” He showed how that forever changes our communities and the lives of those we love.

Casten, continuing his mission to empower voters through education, provided the history, economics and statistical background to U.S. mass shootings. He said all representatives have the responsibility to keep us safe and evidence shows they have failed. We need federal laws to prevent easy access to assault weapons and interstate gun trafficking. We don’t need weapons designed to shoot 83 rounds in less than 30 seconds.

Constituents expressed how they fearfully sent their children to school each day. They pressed for ways to stop this violence when the senate appears poised to block serious prevention measures. The answer was to reach out, to be heard and to vote.

So I’m reaching out to Casten’s opponent, Keith Pekau, to help the police and put people over politics by supporting the assault weapons ban as fellow Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick and Chris Jacobson have bravely done.

Stephanie Rice

Downers Grove