Twenty first-grade children shot to death two years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. A Gresham 4-year-old boy accidentally shoots himself in the hand over the weekend. Men roaming neighborhood streets in the county, openly carrying assault rifles.
These are scenes that Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury brought up on Monday, Feb. 9, at roundtable discussion hosted by U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer. The discussion, held in a conference room at the congressman’s Northeast Portland office, was the start of an awareness campaign called “Enough is Enough: A Comprehensive Plan to Improve Gun Safety.”
Chair Kafoury and Congressman Blumenauer sat down with 12 invited guests, ranging from concerned parents to gun owners to professionals in the medical field, to talk openly about reasonable ways to cut down on gun violence.
“At Multnomah County, we see the effects of gun violence on a daily basis -- from health care and mental health to corrections and first responders,” Chair Kafoury said. "We protect our children from car accidents, from tobacco and nicotine. As lawmakers, it is our responsibility to protect them from rampant gun violence."
The report calls for, among other things, increasing firearm product safety, empowering health care officials and finding ways to effectively regulate those who sell guns.
“I don't just want to call for another moment of silence," said Kafoury. "Our children need action from us."
Those in attendance for the roundtable discussion included: Dr. Jim Scott of the National Physicians Alliance; Nova Newcomer, a concerned parent; Donna Noonan, a youth suicide prevention coordinator; and Michael DeLong of Ceasefire Oregon.