PUTNEY — I have spent most of my working life trying to understand and address the health needs of children and their families. I've seen that legislation - laws such as paid sick leave for workers and extended access to reproductive health care - actually helps families and environmental concerns, such as clean air and water, matter for kids and families.
These issues have been priorities for Mike Mrowicki and David Deen.
I believe that some oversight of who can own a gun is one more way to protect families. With Vermont having one of the highest gun-trafficking rates in the region and the highest gun-death rate in New England, I worry about what happens to families when known domestic abusers and felons have guns.
In Vermont, 62 percent of the homicides in 2013 were domestic-violence-related. In the states that require criminal background checks on all handgun sales, 38 percent fewer women are killed by guns than are killed in the states that do not have this requirement.
Mrowicki and Deen have worked for years in Montpelier supporting legislation that keeps our communities healthier and safer. They both support universal background checks for all gun purchases, including those at gun shows and on the internet, not just at gun shops.
Their opponents hold a no-compromise position on firearm ownership rights, opposing any state law that prohibits felons from possessing weapons. Our legislators need to be able to see the complexities of issues and work with others to preserve our hunting traditions while tightening loopholes used by domestic abusers and violent felons. A no-compromise position doesn't work in Montpelier; that attitude isn't how we get things accomplished in Vermont.
Please give your vote to Mrowicki and Deen - to keep our communities safer.