Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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I’d like to thank U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who recently reintroduced bump stock ban legislation after a federal appeals court ruling blocked the previous ban.
The prior ban had local life-and-death implications, as a bump stock was used by a mass murderer to kill dozens of people at the Route 91 Harvest festival in October 2017. A bump stock attached to a semiautomatic rifle increases the rate of fire, simulating a fully automatic weapon.
Titus voted for the original ban and, unlike Republicans in the House and Senate, she and her fellow Democrats further voted for necessary and successful legislation for infrastructure repairs, protection of reproductive rights, protection of voting rights and anti-inflation measures.
Unlike her Republican counterparts, Titus recognizes that as a public servant, her first responsibility is to the general public as a whole and not to the private interests of the National Rifle Association, to which many Republicans pledge allegiance to support lock, stock and barrel.
Titus’ public service also reminds me of the recent holiday commemorating the wonderful life and public service of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “Make a career of humanity. Make it a central part of your life.” King also said, “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right.”
So I thank Titus for her exemplary hard work and public service not only for her fellow Nevadans but all of humanity.