Valley political, activism groups call for new gun measures

A local conservative women’s group as well as a valley gun sense group are calling for new gun measures at the federal level after this weekend’s mass shootings.

The East Valley Republican Women Federated and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are both calling for bolstered background checks.

“Yes, it is our right to bear arms, but it’s not our right if we’re mentally ill,” said Joy Miedecke, president of the East Valley Republican Women Federated.

She echoed President Trump’s Monday morning remarks. “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,” he said.

“There has to be testing. Every state needs to comply.” Miedecke said. “I believe in the Second Amendment, beyond belief I believe in it. But we have to be able to scrutinize who’s getting guns.”

Jim Boldt, group leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, called for universal background checks and said they would have stopped the shooting last week at a garlic festival in Gilroy, California.

“The shooter was able to go to Nevada and buy an assault rifle which is illegal in California but legal in Nevada,” Boldt said.

He said he hopes the Senate will act on a background check law that’s already passed the House. “There’s already bipartisan support for background checks in the Senate; it just needs to be brought to the floor for a vote.”

Both groups agree: now is the time to act.

“It’s not happened and now look: three (mass shootings) in one week,” Miedecke said. “I mean, somebody’s trying to tell us something here.”

“It is another opportunity; we have got people’s attention right now and the next step to that is for people not to just return to their normal life,” Boldt said.