Letter: On the issue of guns

I was disappointed to learn that Chris Dargis, the Republican candidate for Congress in Illinois' 8th Congressional District, received an "A" rating on the National Rifle Association ("NRA") questionnaire. A generous interpretation would be that he sides with the NRA on the vast majority of their positions. Unfortunately, it is possible that he sides with the NRA on 100% of their positions.

To make matters worse, Mr. Dargis recently denied an opportunity to share the answers from his questionnaire with the Illinois' 8th Congressional District, calling the request a political stunt. If Mr. Dargis is comfortable sharing his stance on gun violence prevention with the NRA, why won't he share the same with the voters in our community?

While the NRA doesn't publicize the questionnaire results, some candidates across the country post theirs online anyhow in order to be transparent. For example, the North Carolina NRA questionnaire available online lists questions like "do you support a ban on semi-automatic firearms" and do you support "so-called 'universal' background checks." It is hard to envision anyone scoring an "A" on the NRA questionnaire without answering NO to these simple questions.

On the contrary, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has proudly acknowledged his "F" rating from the NRA.

As our community daily mourns the devastating Highland Park massacre, we deserve elected officials who will stand up the powerful gun lobby and support common-sense reforms like universal background checks and bans on the commercial sale of weapons of war.

And at a bare minimum, we deserve elected officials who will be honest about their positions to the public.

Kathleen Reed

Elk Grove Village