So many of us feel powerless to affect change in the midst of turmoil at home and across the globe. But there is something we can do to save lives right here in Washington – vote “yes” on Initiative 594 this fall.

A concerned mother and a member of a family that hunts, I believe this is a measure on which those on all sides can find common ground. The initiative respects the passionately held 2nd Amendment rights of responsible gun owners, while closing the loophole in our state that gives convicted felons and other dangerous people easy access to firearms.

Case in point: domestic abusers. When a firearm is present in the home, a woman is 5 times more likely to be killed by an intimate partner with a history of violence. While federal law prohibits convicted abusers from owning firearms, the loophole in our law makes it easy for them to evade a background check by buying a gun from a stranger at a gun show or online with no questions asked. States that have closed this loophole experience 38 percent fewer handgun murders of women by intimate partners. We can do the same.

I encourage my neighbors in Washington to support I-594, and connect with momsdemandaction.org and wagunresponsbility.org.

Diane Meehl, Sammamish