Honor victims of gun violence by passing evidence-based measures

By Denyse Stoneback for The Chicago Tribune

December 19, 2022

CHICAGO - This month, vigils have been held across the country in recognition of the 10th annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence. The National Vigil has been held since the Sandy Hook tragedy on Dec. 14, 2012, during which 26 students and educators were fatally shot at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

In the days following the Sandy Hook shooting, I was outraged by the lack of action by lawmakers who failed to pass a federal bill that would have required background checks on all firearm purchases, a measure that would have saved thousands of lives.

I had the honor of attending the National Vigil in Washington, D.C., where hundreds of survivors lifted their voices in memory of loved ones lost to gun violence. The overwhelming consensus was that we need urgent, transformational change to adequately address the public health epidemic of gun violence.

In his remarks, President Joe Biden reflected on the important progress of passing the most significant gun law in 30 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. However, he acknowledged that it is not enough. More needs to be done to save lives, and he made a renewed push to ban assault-style weapons like the one used in the attack at Sandy Hook.

The epidemic of gun violence has only worsened since 2012. In the past 10 years, over a million Americans have been killed or injured by guns. Gun violence is now the No. 1 cause of death for children in the United States. Nationally, guns kill twice as many people as cancer. United States children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gun than their peers in other high-income countries. Gun violence affects all children, but children of color are at greatest risk. Gun-related domestic violence incidents have increased. According to the Gun Violence Archive, this year there have been 55 mass shootings in Illinois alone.

There is an urgent need to address gun violence through legislative action. I am a co-sponsor and strong supporter of Illinois House Bill 5855, the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which will ban assault-style weapons, large-capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices, raise the age of firearm owner’s identification cardholders to 21, and lengthen the duration of a plenary firearms restraining order.

However, it is not enough. We can’t lose focus on evidence-based policies such as mandatory fingerprinting for all gun sales. Effective background checks require fingerprinting, and currently, Illinois does not require fingerprinting to obtain a FOID card. A Connecticut permit-to-purchase law requiring background checks with mandatory fingerprinting done at a local law enforcement agency was associated with a 40% reduction in the state’s firearm-related homicide rate.

Mandatory fingerprinting is among the top recommendations made by experts at Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions in their report on gun violence solutions for Illinois, published in November, which also recommends strengthening Illinois’ firearms restraining order. The center recommends more changes to better implement this vastly underused law, including assigning statewide coordinators across the Illinois court system to accelerate implementation and adding licensed health care providers as petitioners.

As we reflect on the 1 million Americans who have been killed or injured by guns since the Sandy Hook tragedy, it is time to take action. In the last days of the 102nd General Assembly, my fellow legislators and I must honor the victims with action. We, as legislators, must do more. We can pass a broad, comprehensive package of evidence-based measures to require mandatory fingerprinting for in-person background checks, clarify gun removal under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, and strengthen and implement our firearms restraining order with statewide coordinators, expanded training, and licensed health care providers as petitioners.

The solutions are clear. Our job as elected officials is to make the urgent, transformational change needed to adequately address the public health epidemic of gun violence.

State Rep. Denyse Stoneback represents the 16th District, which includes parts of Skokie, Lincolnwood, Chicago and Morton Grove. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, she founded the Illinois nonprofit People for a Safer Society to reduce gun violence through education and awareness.