This commentary is by Emily Bowers of Winooski, communications director for the Vermont Democratic Party.
I am 26 years old and the vast majority of my life has been defined by the constant threat of mass shootings. I was in middle school when Sandy Hook happened. I was taking an exam in my college class in Florida when the Parkland shooting happened, only a few hours away from where I was sitting.
When the Uvalde shooting took place, I realized my 5-year-old brother wasn’t even out of his kindergarten class yet, and, not for the first time, I was struck with the fear that he could go to school one day and never walk back out.
Just a few days ago, I had to take a break from social media because the details of the Allen mall shooting in Texas were too much to bear.
I am only 26 years old and I’m wondering if this life of constant fear and trauma is going to be something I live with for the rest of my life. I hope it isn’t.
Vermont loves our guns. America loves our guns. But at what point do we have to ask ourselves: Is the right to purchase any gun, at any time, with little to no restriction worth the constant slaughtering of our neighbors?
Vermont has a history of leading the nation in progress, and it’s time for us to do the same with gun control.
There are multiple firearm-related bills in the state Legislature, including one that will reduce suicides by gun in our state. H.230 creates a 72-hour waiting period when someone wants to purchase a gun. The suicide rate in Vermont is higher than most states across the country, with 88% of gun deaths in our state being suicides. According to a Vermont Public investigation, an average of 63 people died per year by suicide using a firearm.
This waiting period will save lives in Vermont, and there is a strong potential that Gov. Phil Scott will veto H.230, along with the other firearms-related bills in the Legislature. Gov. Scott has the chance to sign a bill into law that will save lives! The idea that he would veto this bill and continue to do nothing in the face of these tragedies makes me angry. And anyone who has read about the destruction guns do to bodies or listened to family members share their grief about a loved one taking their life should be angry too.
Gun safety has to take priority in our country, and Vermont has the chance to lead the way. Between the time I finish writing this piece and when it gets published, there will be more senseless deaths from guns. By the time Gov. Scott vetoes the gun safety bills, there will be even more.
No one wants to take your guns. We want to live in a world where walking into a mall, school, church, grocery store, movie theater, or parade doesn’t end in carnage. We want families who aren’t one crisis away from a spur-of-the-moment tragedy. We want to do everything we can to save the lives of our neighbors.
I don’t want to live in a world defined by mass shootings and countless gun deaths anymore. So let’s do something about it.
