To the Editor:

The Haywood County NAACP supports gun safety and freedom. Today, fear and terror exist in our children’s classrooms. The NAACP advocates for laws that will protect and save children and teachers from gun violence and allow them the freedom to learn in a safe environment.

We support:

• Passing a law to ban the sale of assault weapons like the ones used in Las Vegas, Orlando, Aurora, Sandy Hook and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. These are weapons of war, which should be restricted to the military and law enforcement.

• Prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines. Limiting the number of bullets a gun can discharge at one time will at least force a shooter to reload and give children a chance to escape.

• Closing the background check law loophole that allows dangerous people to buy guns online or at flea markets. A background check should be required on every gun sale — with no exception.

It is time to insist that politicians and the NRA act in the best interests of public safety by supporting sane and sensible gun safety laws. It is time that parents are free from the ever-present fear of a shooting at their child’s school. It is time that children and teachers are free to learn without fear.

Chuck Dickson

President, Haywood NAACP