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Going to dinner with your wife can reduce violence.
That is one of the things I learned last week at a beautiful dinner hosted by our dear friends, Rifaat and Ikram Khan and Iffat and Javaid Anwar.
Those names might be unfamiliar to some, but Drs. Khan and Anwar have been contributing citizens, incredible doctors and potent political activists in our community for four decades. They remind me of the old E.F. Hutton ads: When they talk, people listen.
The good doctors brought a houseful of people together to learn about the background-checks initiative that will be on the November ballot in Nevada. Its purpose is simple: to let the people of Nevada speak loudly and clearly that they want everyone who buys a gun in the state, from any source, to pass a background check.
When Nevada passes the initiative, it will be the 19th state to do so, bringing our residents just one step closer to a saner and safer quality of life.
I went to the dinner not only because my good friends were hosting it but because my dear wife, Myra, has been an early and active supporter of the simple idea that background checks save lives. By the way, I haven’t met a law-abiding, responsible gun owner in this state who doesn’t agree that background checks should be required for gun purchases.
It seems the only people who are really against Nevadans speaking up for themselves and their families are the folks who control the National Rifle Association. That would be the gun manufacturers. It’s about selling more weapons even at the expense of sensible gun safety.
Two things caught my attention at the dinner. The first was Dr. Florence Jameson, who was speaking for the doctors; the house was full of them, by the way.
They all nodded in agreement when she talked about Nevada being one of the most dangerous states for gun violence against women.
Her concern was that gun violence was a medical issue that needed to be discussed with patients and that the NRA’s efforts to prevent doctors and other medical professionals from dealing with the ill health effects of such violence were improper. Talk about interference from insurance companies; now you have to deal with gun manufacturers!
The guest speaker was Elaine Wynn, whose credentials for advocacy on behalf of young people and education are unassailable. You name the positive work being done, and chances are good Elaine has her fingerprints and, thankfully, her checkbook all over it.
She talked to us about the constant bombardment of sad news from Sandy Hook, Conn., to San Bernardino, Calif., and every other act of senseless violence this country has endured over the past few years.
We have a responsibility to keep our children safe, but when it comes to shooters in our schools, churches and gathering places, we are failing. Badly.
Elaine said she couldn’t stand by and allow the barrage of tragic news be the new normal in the United States. At a minimum, she had to do what she could to stop the mentally ill, felons and domestic abusers from getting their hands on guns. And that meant she had to get behind the Nevada effort to close what is called the gun show loophole.
Elaine Wynn and Jan Jones Blackhurst are co-chairwomen of Nevadans for Background Checks. The line forms right behind them. My wife is there, and so must I be. And so must all Nevadans who are committed to gun safety.
It is a line that will save lives. Join in, please.
Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Sun.
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