Lawmaker to Gun Buyers: Wait the 72 Hours Required Before Getting an Abortion
A Missouri legislator wants to treat gun violence as a public health issue by asking colleagues to consider a bill that would treat gun rights and reproductive rights similarly. Just a day before a mass shooting killed 14 and left 21 injured in San Bernardino, California, Missouri state Rep. Stacey Newman presented a bill proposing to make it as difficult to buy a gun as it is to get an abortion.
“If we truly insist that Missouri cares about ‘all life,’ then we must take immediate steps to address our major cities’ rising rates of gun violence,” Newman said in a statement.
Both St. Louis and Kansas City rank in the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest rates of gun violence, according to St. Louis Magazine. In October, Missouri earned the unfortunate distinction of ranking first in a state-by-state Washington Post study on the number of gun deaths inflicted by toddlers. The state is also home to some of the most extreme restrictions on abortion, such as requiring a woman to wait 72 hours before getting an abortion after initially seeking one—a waiting period shared in length only by South Dakota and Utah. Missouri currently has no waiting period for prospective firearm buyers, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The bill would require prospective gun owners to meet with a licensed physician to discuss the health risks of gun ownership during the 72-hour waiting period and to buy a gun from a dealer at least 120 miles away from the gun buyer’s home. Gun buyers would also be required to tour a trauma center at the nearest hospital between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., when gun violence victims are most likely to be present, and to meet with two families who have been victimized by gun violence.
“Since Missouri holds the rank as one of the strictest abortion regulation states in the country, it is logical we borrow similar restrictions to lower our horrific gun violence rates,” Newman said.
This isn’t the first controversial bill introduced by Newman: In 2012, she introduced legislation that would have permitted men to get vasectomies only if the procedure would protect them from death or serious injury—another clear comment on abortion access for women. While it’s easy to dismiss both bills—doomed to fail in the Republican-controlled legislature—as campaigns that comment on the state of abortion access, Newman isn’t the first to suggest a public health approach to the crisis of gun violence. In a week when the U.S. experienced its 355th mass shooting of the year, as frustrated and terrified Americans struggle to make sense of the violence, creative responses to the lack of gun control may be welcome.
The American Public Health Association, a scientific research–based policy and advocacy group, has recognized gun violence as a “major public health problem” for more than a decade. A 2001 brief from the organization pointed out that gun violence can be reduced or prevented by using public health tools such as better data collection on firearms policy and violent crime deaths, expanded access to mental health services, and prevention programs in schools and communities.
On Wednesday, the same day as the San Bernardino shooting, a coalition of more than 2,000 physicians called on Congress to remove barriers faced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes for Health to conducting research on gun violence.
“Gun violence is a public health problem that kills 90 Americans a day,” said Alice Chen, executive director of Doctors for America, in a statement. “Physicians believe it’s time to lift this effective ban and fund the research needed to save lives. We urge Congress to put patients over politics to help find solutions to our nation’s gun violence crisis.”
Related stories on TakePart:
• Why Gun Control Isn’t at the Heart of the Black Lives Matter Movement
• How to Talk to Other Parents About Having Guns in the House
• Study Finds More Americans Believe Having Guns at Home Keeps Them Safe
Original article from TakePart
