Background checks needed

Shame on you, Sens. Blunt and Hawley. For over a year, a House backed bill requiring background checks for purchase of guns has languished in the Senate because no Republican will stand on principle and work in a bipartisan way to protect our children and all citizens from disasters of mass shootings as we have had this year alone. I remember in the golden age when our senators acted in common for the good of their constituents (Eagleton and Danforth), without fear of losing power for their party.

It sickens me that many of the quoted Republicans after the Uvalde massacre claim the cure is armed guards -- ignoring the fact there was an armed guard there. Had there been a proper background check, then an 18 year old might not have been able to purchase his guns with which he murdered children.

Instead of showing such loyalty to the NRA, senators, why don't you stand up for our school children? A background check is not an attempt to prevent ownership of guns -- it is a simple process reasonable with the ownership of such dangerous weapons. No more moments of silence. Have the guts to work across the aisle to attack this problem. If you cannot, then you don't deserve to continue as our senators.

MICHAEL H. MAGUIRE, Cape Girardeau