Actions of Republican Women Under Fire [Opinion]

‘Join me in speaking out against the reckless action by the East Valley Republican Women Patriots and our Sheriff.’ — Dori Smith

No actions by the East Valley Republican Women should surprise us. Their website used to be full of violent imagery, and they have — under two different names — welcomed these guest speakers to our area: an admitted felon (Michael Flynn) and a House member under investigation for sex with a minor (Matt Gaetz).

In March 2018, Flynn was in La Quinta to speak to the East Valley Republican Women Federated and campaign for Omar Navarro, the Republican challenging Maxine Waters in Los Angeles’ 43rd U.S. House District at the time.

The East Valley Republican Women Patriots welcomed Gaetz.

After an upcoming meeting, they will probably help make our Valley more dangerous.

How? They’re going to teach gun lovers how to obtain concealed carry permits.  You and I already don’t know who is “packing heat” while we’re browsing at the mall, walking on El Paseo, sitting in a theater, or shopping for groceries.  Our Sheriff has dangerously sped-up the process by which residents are obtaining concealed carry permits; and he brags about it.

The planned seminar makes it clear this club wants to put MORE guns on our streets.  That will likely lead to more gun violence – at a time when we are already experiencing more local gun violence AND more gun deaths of citizens by Sheriff’s deputies. U.S. children are the only ones in the world that routinely go through “active-shooter drills.” It only takes an angry person with a gun a few seconds to kill.

The club’s seminar is especially hypocritical. On its website, they listed many things, sarcastically, to thank President Biden for during Thanksgiving.  Number 2 on the list is: “Uncontrolled violent crime making it impossible to safely walk many city streets.”

They think by packing pistols they are protecting themselves; the truth is they’re making ALL of us more vulnerable and our streets more perilous.

America is already awash in guns, even California.  From the UC-Davis 2018 California Safety and Wellbeing Survey: “There are approximately 4.2 million gun owners and 20 million firearms (9 million handguns) in California.”

As the BBC reports, “Firearm deaths are a fixture in American life.” Our annual gun-death rate far exceeds any other developed country.

Statistics from Everytown, the largest gun-violence organization in America: “In 2021, the U.S. gun death rate rose to its highest level in nearly 30 years. Sharp rises in homicides of Black men and suicides among white men drove the national gun death rate to roughly 15 gun deaths per 100,000 people, the highest since the early ’90s. The most dramatic increase among a demographic group occurred among Black women: Their rate of gun-related homicides more than tripled since 2010, and the rate of gun suicides more than doubled since 2015…the overall number of people who died by gun hit an all-time high last year.”

Thankfully, California requires that anyone applying for a concealed-carry permit must undergo training.  Also, state laws forbid the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, even with a license. And, private businesses and property owners can still regulate whether firearms can be brought into their establishments or onto their property.

Shootings here make the news regularly, while domestic violence gun murders may not.  More Everytown research: “Access to a gun makes it five times more likely that a woman will die at the hands of a domestic abuser. Every month, an average of 70 women (in the U.S.) are shot and killed by an intimate partner. More than 4.5 million women have reported being threatened with a gun by an intimate partner.”

What can you do?  Talk to your friends and family about gun violence.  Make it clear you don’t want guns in your home. If they are already there, ask that they be sold or turned in; if not, make sure they’re safely stored.

Try to prevent anyone you know who is depressed, suicidal or has PTSD from getting a gun or ask them to give up their guns. Use California’s “red flag” law (Gun Violence Restraining Order or GVRO) to report any individuals with guns that you believe are prone to violence. This can be done anonymously at https://www.courts.ca.gov/33679.htm. In the first three years of California’s GVRO law, officials used it to remove guns from 58 people who threatened to commit mass shootings (per the Violence Prevention Research Program).

Ask your schoolchildren to speak up if they see, hear or learn of anyone threatening violence or who has a gun.  If you own a business, display signs that guns are prohibited.

Join me in speaking out against the reckless action by the East Valley Republican Women Patriots and our Sheriff.  Join a gun-safety group such as Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America or the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Please help us fight America’s tragic gun-violence epidemic. We need to fight to keep our Valley safe for everyone.