Pregnant woman and her unborn child gunned down outside a friend’s house. Father-of-nine found murdered in his own driveway. Police detective ambushed, killed by gang member with assault rifle. All of us have heard the terrible accounts describing the deadly toll of gun violence in Miami-Dade County. It is time that we take the next steps that are needed to put an end to it.

The mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Colorado movieplex, the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, and at Columbine High School in Denver are truly shocking and horrible. But day-after-day, the death toll from gun violence in our own community seems a never-ending nightmare.

There is no doubt that our community has made tremendous progress in reducing crime rates, including violent crime, in the past 20 years. We have accomplished this amazing feat by combining tough and vigilant law enforcement with community-based initiatives aimed at crime prevention.

Now, it is time for the next step. Our efforts will be most rewarded by focusing on reducing the availability of high powered, automatic assault weapons and high capacity ammunition.

I am calling upon my colleagues on the County Commission to adopt a series of resolutions that would urge the Legislature and Congress to act. (See the details of the resolutions at miamidade.gov).

Please contact commissioners and Mayor Carlos Gimenez and let them know that you support these common sense actions. This must be a collective effort.

Barbara Jordan, commissioner, Miami-Dade Commission