One way to reduce gun violence is to require universal background checks for all gun sales, to keep them away from known terrorists, felons, and the mentally ill.

Even 74 percent of NRA members support background checks, from a 2013 survey by Johns Hopkins University.

Efforts to enact any meaningful gun legislation have been blocked by NRA lobbyists. Their best known tactic is to support congressional candidates who are NRA friendly.

The NRA’s success in blocking gun legislation has exacted a terrible price. According to the CDC, there were 33,000-plus deaths due to gun violence in 2013.

That’s nearly five times more deaths, in one year, than the 6,800 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 14 years. The CDC also reported that twice as many people are injured by guns as are killed by them.

Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and Congressman Dave Reichert all have websites that enable you to contact them. I hope you request they work to enact (and fund) universal background checks.

Peter D. Bullard

Snoqualmie