Gov. Chris Sununu, I am writing you directly to urge you to support a common-sense measure requiring background checks before purchasing a gun in New Hampshire.

When you ran for governor in 2016, you told voters directly in a NH1 televised debate that you supported background checks. I remember that moment; I was relieved to hear it. I know you are a man of your word. Today, I am asking that you stand by that earlier support for background checks.

I sponsored House Bill 109 requiring background checks for commercial firearms sales. It passed both the N.H. House and Senate and is on its way to your desk. You have three options: sign it into law, let it become law without your signature or veto it.

Gov. Sununu, please don’t go back on your word and veto background checks for firearms sales. Please don’t say “NO” to this common-sense approach. Take a look at the statistics surrounding this debate.

Although it is true that New Hampshire has the seventh-lowest number of gun deaths per capita in the nation, we have the 24th-highest rate of crime gun exports. New Hampshire exports three times as many guns used in crimes elsewhere as we import. Our state is the top supplier of “crime guns” to Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont.

In addition to being a net exporter of these guns used in illegal activity, there is a short “time-to-crime” associated with these weapons, meaning they are purchased here and not long after used in crimes elsewhere. This is a strong indicator of gun trafficking.

According to 2009 data collected from the gun-trafficking statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New Hampshire exported 18.3 guns per 100,000 inhabitants, whereas the national average was 14.1 guns per 100,000 inhabitants. In addition, 29.3% of New Hampshire’s firearms have a short time-to-crime. The national average is 22.6%.

It’s important to look at the big picture. Since 2001, the use of a firearm was responsible for 48% of the state’s domestic violence homicides. A background check slows the purchase process and sheds light on what could be a preventable crime.

Based on estimates by the N.H. Department of Safety, 33,000 of the estimated 82,500 sales that will occur next year will not require a criminal background check; that’s more than one-third of all sales.

HB 109 is not an overreach by government. It is a public safety measure to keep more guns out of the hands of those whom we all agree should not have them.

There is an overly simplified argument that HB 109 will only affect “law-abiding citizens” because criminals don’t follow the law anyway. By that logic, the Legislature should pack up and head home now. What good is passing any law if criminals don’t follow the law?

This is a paradox offered to intentionally blur the clear intent of a background check proposal. We are a nation of laws; we are a state of laws. Our job is to balance the freedoms guaranteed in our constitution with the need for protecting the safety and opportunity of our citizens. Laws must create some restrictions on behavior, and punishments are the consequences for ignoring those laws.

I would look instead at the potential positive impact of a background check law and the lives that can be saved. A check that can prevent someone with a domestic violence order against him or her from buying a gun during a moment of high stress or emotion. A check that can prevent guns used in crimes in other states. A check that keeps obvious offenders from easily buying a deadly weapon, which is a loophole our society has repeatedly asked be closed.

HB 109 is a simple, constitutional regulation that fits the beliefs of a broad majority of citizens. Remember what you said in 2016. Please support background checks. Support HB 109.

(Katherine Rogers of Concord represents Merrimack District 28 in the N.H. House of Representatives.)