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Smyk’s response on march disconcerting

April 3, 2018

The following letter was sent to Rep. Steve Smyk, with a copy sent to the Cape Gazette for publication.

I'm a constituent who traveled to Washington, D.C., March 24 to attend the March For Our Lives. As I was traveling alone, I took advantage of catching a ride on a bus that left from Lewes. After the march, I was forwarded an email you sent to a fellow rider in which you describe your concern about the D.C. March For Our Lives.

In your email you state that we "certainly are not wrong to organize and share our concerns... but have fallen for rhetoric and been led astray," but "hoped that I enjoyed the trip with friends."

Let me just move past your condescending tone and the suggestion that march organizers are disingenuous and represent a threat. I am asking you to listen to my position on gun control with an open mind. I do not expect that my elected representatives and I will always agree on issues. But, I hope that my elected officials will at least try to understand the varying positions of their constituents.

I am strongly in favor of sensible gun control, and have been for a long time. For me, this is an essential public safety issue. I see no reason why we cannot enact constitutionally sound gun control legislation. Goodness knows we have any number of public safety regulations, everything from how we build our homes, to who gets to call themselves doctors. The issue has taken on more urgency given the growing frequency of mass shootings, the proliferation of assault weapon purchases since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, and the devastating legacy of trauma each shooting leaves in communities. This is no longer about partisan politics. It is about how we reconcile the right to bear arms with the right to be safe in our communities. We have a serious problem: We have too many weapons of war too easily accessible in our communities.

Mr. Smyk, I don't expect that you will change your position on gun safety after reading this letter. But, I will ask you to understand that my opinions expressed here are my own, I have not been manipulated into feeling this way, and have nothing to do with my political affiliation. There are two things that I did take from the teens who spoke in D.C. March 24: It is time for us to come together as a nation to deal with the issue of gun violence. And, it is time to hold our elected officials accountable on where they stand. I do agree with these brave teens: Enough is enough.

Perrin Smith
Lewes

 

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