More than 7,000 children are hospitalized or killed by guns each year. Almost daily we hear of shootings at a mall, a college, an elementary school and most often a family’s home.

Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords will testify in Olympia on Tuesday in support of I-594,  asking for universal background checks for gun buyers. Her husband, Mark Kelly, will also testify.

Sensible measures to protect our children as well as each other are needed. Why would anyone refuse to pass a law that promotes common sense when buying and selling guns? Spend one day in an emergency room and talk with the caregivers who see the result of our often careless and cavalier attitudes. Every year: 7,000 children. The madness has to stop. 

(S-R archive photo: Former Rep. Gabby Giffords is helped as she arrives for a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, 2013)