Ellen Roberts, from Durango, is our state senator. An important role of a representative is to support policies that will help keep citizens safe. Sen. Roberts has been in public office for approximately 10 years, and during this time, more than 300,000 people have been killed by guns. Roberts has not only done virtually nothing to reduce this number, but even worse, she has attempted to stop the efforts of those who want to reduce the number of deaths.
Roberts recently voted in favor of a bill that would allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. Since Jan. 1, 23 toddlers have either shot themselves or someone else, a result of guns carelessly left in places where small children have access. Shouldn’t the training required to carry a concealed weapon be strengthened, not eliminated as Roberts wants to do?
Roberts also voted to repeal the clip size limit passed in Colorado. Last month at a prom in Wisconsin, a student was shot in the parking lot by police. The student was carrying a high-powered rifle with a large clip, and school officials said the results could have been unimaginable. The clip size limit was passed to help prevent awful and unimaginable tragedies.
We need a representative who advocates an approach that improves mental health services as well as the implementation of gun safety measures, which would not even be a minor inconvenience to the vast majority of hunters and gun owners such as ourselves.
We need Roberts, whose actions would indicate she views a high death rate from guns as an acceptable by-product of unrestricted access to guns, to resign immediately.
David and Jane Ryan
Montrose
