My Plan to Protect Oklahoman Children and Communities from Gun Violence
Tags: Policy, Safety, Guns, Senate, Common Sense

We don’t have to choose between our families’ safety and gun rights. Parents should never have to fear for their children’s safety when they drop them off at school. Oklahomans should be safe in their homes. Oklahoma has the 9th highest rate of gun deaths in the country. Jim Inhofe will try to pit the safety of our families against our Second Amendment rights. I know that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Responsible gun policy goes hand-in-hand with protecting our Second Amendment rights.

I will protect Oklahoman children’s’ safety. Most parents and children remember the fear they felt after the Sandy Hook massacre. Our schools are a place where every parent prays their child will be safest, yet they have become a place of potential violence. Since Sandy Hook, there have been at least 2,429 mass shootings, with at least 2,742 killed and 10,118 wounded. With commonsense gun safety reform, we can put this crisis to an end.

We need to update the Gun-Free School Zones Act to prohibit any guns in schools other than guns carried by law enforcement. We need more CLEET-certified officers on campuses across the state; arming teachers isn’t the answer. Research suggests that putting more guns in our schools would not be helpful in reducing the risk of violence. Instead, we need to focus on ensuring firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands.

We need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. People who are legally prohibited from buying guns are currently able to get ahold of them by finding unlicensed sellers at gun shows or on the internet. This is irresponsible and dangerous. I will work to pass reform to close loopholes that allow criminals from purchasing guns. By improving the data available to law enforcement, we can keep guns out of the wrong hands. Responsible gun owners know that their rights are strengthened and their children are safer when guns are kept out of the hands of potentially dangerous criminals.

Teaching gun safety can be the difference between life and death. One of the most devastating tragedies associated with irresponsible gun use is the accidental death of children. A national survey found that among gun-owning households with children, around 20% of gun owners stored at least one gun loaded and unlocked. 89% of unintentional shooting deaths of children occur in the home. Many children don’t understand the danger of mishandling a firearm. I will work to ensure agencies provide people with the information necessary to encourage proper storage for firearms, especially in households with children. I will do everything I can to make sure that responsible gun owners how to keep their families safe from tragic accidents.

Commonsense policies can reduce firearm suicide. Oklahoma has a higher proportion of gun deaths by suicide compared to homicide than many other states. Self-inflicted violence makes up 67% percent of gun deaths. Research has proven that if someone attempts suicide with a firearm, they are more likely to die compared to any other method. Additional research has proven that if someone experiences a failed suicide attempt, they are much less likely to attempt it in the future. Essentially, if a life is saved today, it is likely to be safe in the future.

We can reduce the risk of firearm suicide by recommending healthcare providers on the frontline to ask at-risk patients about guns in the home. We also need to allow local law enforcement to conduct welfare checks if a patient is at risk of committing suicide and owns a gun. It is also critical public officials and agencies educate families on the importance of restricting adolescents’ access to guns at home without parental supervision, especially for those at risk of suicide.

I will fight to protect victims of domestic violence. As an attorney, I have seen first hand the ongoing fear that victims of intimate partner violence experience. Nearly 1 million women alive today report being shot or shot at by an intimate partner. Each month, around 52 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. And, intimate partner violence has been linked to mass shootings as the perpetrator often has a history of violence against women. Preventing individuals with histories of domestic violence from possessing a firearm can go a long way in protecting individual women and the broader community.

As your senator, I will fight to close the “boyfriend loophole” that allows domestic abusers to have guns, despite criminal convictions or restraining orders. Just because two people are not legally married does not mean that there is not a history of intimate partner violence. Additionally, I will introduce legislation encouraging local law enforcement to take reports of domestic violence seriously and safely intervene when a firearm is involved. Read more about my plan to address domestic and gender-based violence here.

I will protect Oklahomans’ gun rights. Common-sense gun policies do not threaten our rights to self-defense and to hunt; they strengthen them. As your senator, I will work equally as hard to protect both your families’ right to be safe from gun violence and your second amendment rights. My common-sense approach will work for responsible gun owners, not against them.