Letters to the editor for Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Wheeler’s constituents support background checks

I read Assemblyman Jim Wheeler’s feelings on Question 1, the Background Check Initiative. He gave his reasons for not wanting to vote for the ballot measure and while his facts are misleading, I respect his right to vote as a citizen. He left out how his constituents feel, maybe because most of us don’t agree with him: 86 percent of Nevadans support requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales.

A few years ago he said that he would vote to reinstate slavery if that’s what his constituents wanted,­ his point being not that he supported slavery, but that he would vote for whatever his constituents wanted.

I am not Mayor Michael Bloomberg and I haven’t received any of his money. I know Mr. Wheeler and others opposed to Question 1 have decided to turn him into a boogeyman on this issue. I am a Marine Corps veteran and a Nevadan, and I believe that background checks are effective. In the last three years, the background check system blocked 5,379 gun sales to prohibited people, including 2,147 to fugitives, 1,226 to felons and 959 to people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors or subject to domestic violence protection orders. This is what we are talking about.

The misinformation put out by the likes of Assemblyman Wheeler makes people in my community frustrated about the issue. If you were being honest about being a leader on issues that are controversial, then be a leader on this issue. Your constituents support it!

Alex Goff

Fernley