Thanks to the East Bay papers for the editorial recognizing that the proliferation of automatic weapons and high capacity magazines is one of the root causes of the epidemic of mass shootings that happen all too frequently in our nation.

The editors are exactly correct that assault style weapons and high capacity magazines have no place in the homes and hands of anyone other than the military.   They are right also that we can work on both the reasons that mass killings occur and the means use to perpetrate them.

In Rhode Island, the General Assembly has made progress in recent years to put systems in place to identify dangerous individuals and remove their guns — the red flag law and school-based threat assessment teams, for example. Now is the time to work on reducing the supply of the most dangerous weapons in circulation.

As the representative from District 68, I will work to pass legislation that bans military-style weapons and high capacity magazines. It is past time to get these weapons out of circulation.

We cannot wait for the federal government to act. Let us follow the lead of our neighbors, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and enact these bans. Now is the time.        

June Speakman
Warren

Ms. Speakman is state representative from District 68, representing parts of Warren and Bristol.