Letter: Staunton resident on Second Amendment sanctuary

As a resident, I cannot stand by in silence as the City of Staunton considers the thought of becoming a Second Amendment sanctuary city.

Staunton has residents who have lived here for generations and many who have chosen to re-located for a new life. A large majority of our residents want to fully enjoy Staunton as a cultural and historic best small city in America. Would a Second Amendment sanctuary resolution represent us as it resolves our city council to approve and to not enforce any future chosen gun reform law in Virginia? If so, this is not the Staunton I chose and have learned to love.

Attending a meeting recently in Richmond, I noticed an elegant white-haired African American woman at the head table.  She would be our first speaker. She began by stating she and her daughter were gun owners. She stated her belief in the rule of law and the Second Amendment. Over the recent decades, she has watched horrific gun massacres including Virginia Tech and Virginia Beach, knows families and friends suffering from gun slaughtered of their loved ones, she has family or close friends whose spouse was harmed or killed by gun and a close friend’s suicide by gun. She announced it is now time to ensure Virginians are safer by offering more protection for our innocent citizens through a more thorough background check for gun ownership.

Do we wait until a mass shooting happens within our city limits or to our neighboring locales? Do we wait until a loved one commits suicide or is killed by a loved one? Do we wait until our first responders are killed in action by someone who should not have access to a gun?

Question: Is it, at this time in our country’s history, a civic duty to require state and federal legislators to introduce common sense background checks bills; require ownership training and a license for having a war gun and its multiple rounds of ammunition; no gun access for those legally proven guilty of a life endangering crime; those diagnosed or determined to be mentally ill-equipped to have access to a gun?

Is your answer to the above question yes? Contact your state delegate and senator; make change happen during the January 2020 Virginia General Session in Richmond.

There is an alternative. You can continue to do nothing!

Letter from Beth Daisey/Staunton