Here in Bend, gun violence threatens our personal safety in several ways. Tragic shootings, like that of Barry Washington last year and the Safeway shooting last month, create pain and suffering for the affected families and friends. And that stress ripples throughout our community as well.
In addition to homicides, we suffer high rates of gun deaths from suicide here. In Deschutes County we have, on average, about one death from suicide each week, more than half of them with guns. And across Oregon suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10-24.
As your City Council, we want to do what we can to stem this tide of gun violence. That’s why we unanimously support Measure 114, the gun safety measure on the ballot this fall. It will help keep guns out of the hands of those intent on causing harm by strengthening and streamlining our existing laws. This measure is the right step forward to improve safety while protecting our Second Amendment rights at the same time.