To the editor:

As a mother, grandmother, and person of faith, I am voting for I-594, for expanded background checks for gun purchases and transfers in Washington. I urge others to do the same.

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a grassroots group that was formed by grieving parents soon after the tragedy of Sandy Hook, when innocent children and adults were killed by a person who shouldn’t have had access to guns. If passage of I-594 would prevent even one such needless death by gun violence, it would be worth it — especially if that one person were a family member or friend of mine.

My father was a hunter and NRA member who strongly supported our nation’s Second Amendment. Yet, if he were still alive, he would see no problem in submitting to a background check to buy a gun, and neither do people who presently buy guns from licensed gun dealers.

Why, then, do opponents of I-594 think it is too much trouble to get a background check when purchasing guns from unlicensed dealers? The process is the same and would result in fewer guns in dangerous hands. The argument of “inconvenience” for expanded background checks rings hollow if we truly value human life.

ALICE C. MCCAIN

Suquamish