This Lawmaker Wants Guns to Have Same Restrictions as Abortion

Want a gun? Get mandatory counseling and an ultrasound. (Photo: StaceyNewman.com)

By now you have surely seen the meme going around on social media, asking that guns be treated the same way as abortion — waiting periods, mandatory counseling, an ultrasound (hey — why not!), and long drives to the often sole facility in a state that offers such services.

Missouri state Rep. Stacey Newman decided to, essentially, put her money where the meme is.

Newman has introduced a bill in the Missouri Statehouse that would apply literally the same restrictions on abortion in the state to those seeking to purchase a gun.

“We’re known as one of the worst states in terms of abortion restrictions,” Newman tells Yahoo Health. “We’re down to one clinic in our state. It’s an ongoing battle. And the abortion restrictions just keep coming in. And it’s sickening to see what’s happened in terms of women’s health — and in terms of universal background checks.”

Which is why she had to do something.

Related: What an Abortion Treatment Room Really Looks Like

“It’s frustration,” Newman says. “Frustration that legislators in our state, who are predominantly male, think nothing of filing restrictions to make it harder for women to access a legal medical procedure that one in three women will have. They have no qualms. No qualms about that. But Colorado Springs really highlighted — my bill was ready to go before that tragedy, but it really highlighted the danger that women, patients, and staff put themselves through every day just to access legal medical care.”

Her bill — which is fully expected to flounder in the Republican-majority Missouri Legislature — stipulates that before any Missouri citizen can buy a gun, he or she must meet with a licensed physician at least 72 hours beforehand to discuss the risks of gun ownership and obtain a written notice of approval; buy the gun from a licensed gun dealer located at least 120 miles from the purchaser’s legal residence; review the medical risks associated with firearms, including photographs of fatal firearm injuries, and the alternatives to purchasing a firearm, including “materials about peace and nonviolent conflict resolution,” with the gun dealer orally and in writing; watch a 30-minute video about fatal firearm injuries; tour an emergency trauma center at the nearest qualified urban hospital on a weekend between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. when gun violence victims are present and get written verification from a doctor; and meet with at least two families who have been victims of gun violence and two local faith leaders who have officiated, within the last year, at a funeral for a victim of gun violence who was under the age of 18.

Related: Texas Law Leads to Thousands of Women Giving Themselves Abortions

“As you’re seeing,” Newman adds, “it’s easy to get ammunition and weapons. We have got to start caring about that as much as those who care about restricting abortion.”

And Newman says the response since she pre-filed for her bill has been “overwhelming” and “fabulous,” with messages of support coming from her district, all over her state, and all over the country.

“I’m just trying to highlight hypocrisy,” she says. “We can’t keep going down this path, to turn our backs so blindly on gun violence victims” — especially, she notes, when others in her state are so eager to “stoke fear about Syrian refugees, fears that are totally ungrounded,” but are unwilling to address the real risks all Americans face when it comes to gun violence.

Meanwhile, she points out, two state senators in Missouri have just filed campus carry bills.

“We know what that will do,” Newman says, “We’ll have more fatalities instead of trying to prevent this nonsense.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering how committed Rep. Newman is to upending her state’s restrictive anti-abortion measures, she previously introduced a bill to make vasectomy legal only if a man’s life or safety is at risk.

“The outcry was basically men writing to say, ‘How dare you! How dare you restrict my legal access to a private medical procedure! How dare you!’ So I made my point,” Newman says.

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