To the Editor:

Last week our country experienced what is reported to be the 18th United States school shooting of this young year. I am sharing here the letter I wrote to Senator George Amedore earlier this month, asking his help to enact specific gun safety legislation on behalf of our children.

My letter preceded the tragedy in Florida but, unfortunately, this topic is relevant and timely at any given point in this era of gun violence. I look forward to hearing back from the senator. Here’s what I wrote:

I’m asking your help in bringing about two measures that could be of significance in improving safety for our kids from the threat of gun violence.

First, I ask that you work with Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, as you often do on other legislation, to get a bumpstock ban passed in New York State. By coincidence, as I make this request, I am visiting family members in Las Vegas.

As you know, this is the site where a rapid rain of bullets killed a record number of people gathered for a peaceful concert just a few short months ago. This terrible mass killing is what is now prompting us to look at the deadly potential of bumpstocks.

It is fortunate that all of my family were eventually determined to be safe, but this incident is a terrible example of how far-reaching such tragedy can be to us personally. Let us try our best to make sure New York State will never be a place that shares such notoriety with Las Vegas because of bumpstocks.

Secondly, I ask that you support the governor’s call to include domestic abusers in the group of individuals who are banned from having guns. Unfortunately, I have seen such a situation firsthand where someone dear to me was subjected to terror over time because of her armed spouse. She had four small children at the time.

Finally, let me note that my granddaughter is a local first-grader. At 7, she is the same age as the little kids who were killed at school in Sandy Hook a few years back. It is hard not to think about having that in common with the people of Newtown.

In our country, where gun violence is a huge part of our culture, keeping children safe is proving difficult. We can drill them on fire safety and hand-washing to prevent the spread of the flu, but how can we teach them to avoid getting shot?

Adopting these common-sense laws will prevent the needless loss of life in the future. On behalf of our children, I thank you for your support.

Fran Porter

Altamont