U.S. Rep. Danny Davis: It’s ‘long past time to get guns off the street’

We join in mourning the loss of Commander Paul Bauer, who was killed in the line of duty Tuesday. Commander Bauer, who interacted regularly with our office, was an outstanding officer with a heart for the community. He was also a husband and dad with a 13-year-old daughter.

Scarcely a week goes by when I do not hear from constituents about the senseless loss of a loved one due to gun violence. Tragically, for the most part, the names and lives of those who perish as a result of senseless gun violence remain largely unknown outside of their family and friends. There is no way to comprehend the true cost and the enduring pain resulting from this epidemic of gun violence.

It is long past time to get these guns off the street!

7th Congressional District Rep. Danny K. Davis

Second amendment or inalienable rights?

Thoughts and prayers will do nothing to stop bullets and neither will the Republican Party, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Rifle Association. If the attempted assassination of former President Ronald Reagan, the massacre of first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the shooting of the Republican House Majority Whip during baseball practice did not convince Republicans to support minimal gun regulation, then nothing ever will.

Instead, Republicans in the Senate will filibuster any attempt by Democrats to pass common-sense gun regulation. Republicans in the House will say it is “too soon” to act. You can bet Republicans in every statehouse they control will introduce legislation further weakening what little gun regulation there is.

Get used to living in a country where gun ownership trumps life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Bob Barth, Edgewater

Under the NRA’s thumb

Seventeen innocents dead in Parkland, Florida. The American carnage of gun violence continues unabated. The inaction of our political leaders in compliant obeisance to the NRA is unworthy of any civilized society. Our political leaders, specifically the Republican party, have literally prioritized the NRA and its false god — the almighty gun — over the lives of dead children, time and time again.

The blood of these children is dripping from their hands. Their inhuman cowardice and inaction in the face of this tragic violence should no longer be tolerated by the citizens who elect them. If our elected leaders won’t stop the endless parade of gun carnage, we must stop them.

We will either, as a society, vow to stop the gun bloodshed or be doomed by it, no longer worthy of the title as civilized.

Ken Kramer, Glen Ellyn