Kansas Representative Barbara Bollier was surprised to get a personal invite to the White House for the President’s Tuesday speech.
The former physician believes gun control is a public health issue, and she wants to help make changes.
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"Almost as many people die in the United States from gun violence as do from car accidents, and we've done all kinds of things to prevent deaths in cars, but we're doing almost nothing on gun violence to try to prevent that,” Rep. Bollier said.
Rep. Bollier sat among the parents who’ve lost children in mass shootings, such as Newtown.
"I will tell you, you could feel in the room. You could feel this heaviness from the sadness of the people who were there representation their children who were not there. And that, I think is what hit me the most."
Rep. Bollier admits she is one of few Republican lawmakers in Kansas who is in favor of gun control. She doesn’t believe it should be a dividing issue.
“I don't know how these guns or no guns became a Republican or Democrat issue. And I’m going to say with that statement, this isn't about no guns. None of us are against the Second Amendment. We agree with it, but let's just make it be in effect in the safest way possible."
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at alexandra.sutter@kshb.com.
