Las Vegas shooting casts pall over gun-safety group's anniversary event

Lynda Stewart said this week has proved the necessity for groups such as the Southeast Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America during the group’s meeting Wednesday night at the Cape Girardeau Library.

“This was supposed to be a big party, rah-rah,” said Stewart, who is the chapter’s founder.

It was supposed to mark the one-year anniversary of the group’s first meeting.

“Then Sunday happened,” she said, referring to the Las Vegas concert massacre that has become the nation’s worst mass shooting in modern history. The death toll — 58 — exceeded that of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 in Orando, Florida, and resulted in more than 500 injured.

Stewart urged attendees to get involved and oppose measures, such as legalizing gun silencers and reciprocal concealed-carry permitting, by contacting their legislators.

One such legislator, state Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, attended the meeting and praised the group’s efforts.

Kathy Swan

She urged members to be persistent in efforts to reach their lawmakers.

“I would highly recommend you continue to reach out to ... [Sen. Roy] Blunt and representative [Jason] Smith,” she said.

Several attendees spoke about the need to put aside political differences to focus on gun-safety reform.

Swan said such communication should be possible in the wake of the most recent mass shooting.

“It is a reasonable expectation for any issue, we communicate,” she said after the meeting. “The best solutions will come out of conversation and brainstorming.”

While previous mass shootings such as the one in Orlando failed to spark a legislative response, Swan said it’s possible the scale of Sunday’s shooting may serve to motivate lawmakers to seek solutions with more urgency.

“It certainly seems from all sides, [legislators] are willing to discuss meaningful, common-sense solutions,” Swan said after the meeting.

Stewart said she supports the right to bear arms as enumerated in the Second Amendment but views gun violence as a public-health crisis.

She said it’s not just mass murder that’s a problem. Accidental discharge, poor storage practices and suicide also contribute to the problem, Stewart said, including in Missouri.

“Last month, we were No. 3 in the nation for unintentional shootings [of individuals under 17],” she said. “But this month, Missouri jumped up to No. 1.”

Several of the attendees also were members of the Stop Needless Acts of Violence Please group, which also has worked to quell violence in Cape Girardeau.

SNAP founder Felice Roberson led the group in prayer, and a candlelit moment of silence was observed for victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

“It’s not enough to remember what happened. We need to take action,” Stewart said. “Some say it’s too soon to talk about taking action. In my opinion, it’s too late.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

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