Letters

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for America’s children and teens; 4.2 million children live in homes with loaded, unlocked guns, and 18-year-olds buy assault weapons without a background check.

Are we insane?

MAGA Republicans say 400 million guns in our country are no problem and object to every gun law proposed by Democrats. They call New York City crime-infested. Yet these same Republicans are from states with weak gun laws where death and injury rates are far higher than New York State.

New York does have crime, though our crime rate, and our rate of death by guns, are both well below the national average. According to Everytown’s recent report on “The Economic Cost of Gun Violence,” New York is the second-safest state, with good gun laws and among the lowest rates of gun death in the nation, 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people. Our rate of household gun ownership is also low, at 19.9 percent.

New York’s crime and gun deaths rates are well below MAGA states where the banshees of “crime all the time” fail to mention their own states’ abysmal numbers.

Jim Jordan’s Ohio ranks 33rd for weakest gun laws, has 40 percent of households with guns, and a gun death rate almost three times New York’s.

Ted Cruz’s Texas ranks 32nd for weakest gun laws, has 47.5 percent of households with guns, and a gun death rate almost three times New York’s.

Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky ranks 40th for weakest gun laws, has 54.6 percent of households with guns, and a gun death rate almost four times New York’s.

Kennedy’s Louisiana ranks 50th, has a household guns rate of 55.8 percent, and a gun death rate six times that of New York.

New Yorkers are at greater risk of being killed and injured because of states with weak gun laws. Ninety percent of traced crime guns in New York City come from states with weak gun laws, as do 70 percent of crime guns traced in New York State.

Gun violence costs lives, and also costs a lot of money — $557 billion in annual costs, according to Everytown, which is equal to 2.6 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product and five times our nation’s budget for the Department of Education. On a daily basis, American taxpayers pay $30.16 million for police and crime costs.

Imagine a country without daily deaths and weekly mass shootings, and what we could do with the money now spent on gun violence.

Imagine the future you want for your family. Then vote for Democrats, because they are the only ones working to reduce gun violence.

Jackie Hilly

Secretary

Southampton Town Democrat Committee

Hilly is a former executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence — Ed.