Letter to the Editor: clarifying the Hearst gun control survey

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted to the News-Times by a group of area legislators in response to the recent Hearst gun control survey.

To the editor:

We would like to address the recent gun control survey that was distributed to state legislators by the Hearst Newspapers Corporation. We would like to clarify what transpired and explain the reasonable approach we are taking to address the difficult issues facing our state.

Following the tragic Sandy Hook massacre, both legislative chambers and both political parties came together to form a historic collaboration known as the Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety.

As the process of collecting public and expert testimony was underway, we were asked via the survey to boil down some very complicated issues to a simple “yes” or “no” response. With all due respect, if the issues were that simple, we would have already crafted solutions.

The survey questions, which made no mention of mental health or school safety, lacked specific definitions for many vague and easily misconstrued phrases such as “assault-styled rifles” and “large capacity magazines.” When addressing sensitive, complex issues such as gun control, it is neither responsible nor reasonable to take a position when we don’t have all the facts.

Moreover, while the survey article claimed we “declined” to respond, we did in fact send lengthy and thoughtful statements explaining our take on the process. When the survey results were published, however, the statements were never mentioned and the term “declined” was used to describe those legislators who submitted statements as well as those who simply sent nothing in.

Our positions are not ones of indecision or unresponsiveness, but rather are commitments to carefully listening to all sides of these issues and debating them openly before choosing the right solutions.

In an effort to honor the legislative process and keep from disenfranchising the thousands of folks still weighing in on these issues, we could not in good faith adhere to concrete positions before a bipartisan compromise has been reached.

Public safety is too important to make hasty judgments before the democratic process has taken place – a process we greatly respect and are honored to take part in.

We will continue to listen carefully as we gather more public input and craft comprehensive and effective legislation on gun control, mental health and school security.

Sincerely,

State Reps. David Scribner (R-107), Jan Giegler (R-138), DebraLee Hovey (R-112), Mitch Bolinsky (R-106), Cecilia Buck-Taylor (R-67), and State Sen. Clark Chapin (R-30).