Received this e-mail today from former Attorney General and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, Richard Cordray’s (D. OH) gubernatorial campaign:
What happened in Parkland, Florida is sickening and a tragic reminder of the pressing need to stop the epidemic of gun violence that is plaguing our communities. We need an honest discussion and debate about how to keep innocent people — and innocent children — safe.
But it's not just Parkland. Daily gun violence touches every corner of Ohio. Two police officers in Westerville lost their lives in recent days. And gun violence disproportionately affects our African-American community.
This debate can't be driven by politics or posturing. It's not about left or right, Democrat or Republican. It’s about figuring out what works and making it happen. We need to bring together everyone — law enforcement, health experts, school officials, faith leaders, gun owners, crime victims — to put all options on the table and find solutions. This problem will not be solved on TV talk shows or by empty promises on the campaign trail.
Voters deserve to know where candidates stand, and what they will do if elected. So here is how we can start to address this problem:
- Background checks must be conducted on all gun sales. I will work closely with federal and local law enforcement officials to target all straw-man purchases, gun thefts, and illicit gun trafficking for intensive prosecution.
- I will push to ban the sale and purchase of ‘bump-stocks’ and any other mechanisms that convert legal firearms into illegal fully-automatic weapons.
- I will work for increased school safety, including placing school resource officers on-site in schools to enhance security, train personnel, help spot warning signs, and speed emergency response times in order to save lives.
- I will appoint a Gun Violence Prevention Czar in my administration to coordinate a comprehensive response to this issue that runs the gamut from bolstering local law enforcement, supporting and funding tip hotlines, improving mental health efforts, and providing resources and best practices to local officials.
- I will work with prosecutors, local law enforcement, and social services to create gun violence task forces that use proven tactics from Ohio and around the country to target illegal gun trafficking and gang violence, and to stage early interventions to stop likely offenders from committing gun crimes.
It's time to rethink our approach to military-style weapons used to perpetrate mass shootings. I have supported responsible gun ownership by law-abiding citizens and I continue to do so in accord with the Second Amendment. But as a supporter of responsible gun ownership, I believe we must strongly enforce existing laws, take steps to ensure these laws are not being circumvented, and take further steps to make sure these guns don't get into the wrong hands and are not being enhanced to engage in mass killings.
Criminals, people who suffer from addiction or mental illness, domestic abusers, and anyone who is at high risk of using a gun to commit a crime should not be able to obtain these guns or any gun — period. We must do more to keep these weapons out of the hands of criminals and of those who would inflict unimaginable suffering upon our children and communities.
Like countless other Americans who fall on all sides of the debate over gun issues, I have been deeply shaken by the mass shootings afflicting our country in recent years. I know this work won't be easy, and that the causes and effects of gun violence can be complex. But that is not an acceptable excuse for inaction.
Ending the scourge of gun violence requires bringing people together, finding real solutions that will save lives, and getting it done. That's the approach I’ve taken on tough issues throughout my career in public service, and that’s what I’ll do as Governor.
Add your name and join me in the fight to end gun violence in our communities.
Yours,
Rich Cordray
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