I was honored to be asked to read one of my poems at the South Carolina Statehouse for the Wear Orange Event for National Gun Violence Awareness Day, on June 2nd, 2018.
I had read this same poem at the SC state house three months ago, at the March for Our Lives rally. Afterward, I was asked to do a brief interview, something I was not expecting. I was asked what I thought the answer was to preventing gun violence. My answer was simple. Dialogue. To reach a consensus about a solution we need to sit down together and talk without belittling and name calling. I think the best way to do this is off the internet. Talk to real people in your community.
Finally, the reporter said something that shocked me. She said, “Most of these protestors want to ban all guns, do you agree with that?” I knew she wanted to know if I thought all guns should be banned, but something bothered me about the question, about how it was set up for a yes or no answer. On the spot and without the time to really think, I said something about preferring not to have guns in my own home and preferring to not have guns in places where I take my kid, which is true. But having thought about this question now, here is my answer: no, I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree that most protestors “just want to ban guns.” And on that note, I don’t agree that most people supporting gun rights prefer no regulations. It comes back to my answer on how we solve this issue. Dialogue. I have talked to many gun owners and ALL of the people I’ve talked to believe in safe and responsible ownership. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but in actually talking to people I’ve found it to hold true. While there may be some protesters who really would like to ban guns, what most protestors really want is for people, and especially kids, to stop dying because of gun violence. Can you stop people from dying of gun violence and have responsible gun ownership? Yes. Look at Japan. Look at Switzerland.
Don’t be tricked by yes or no questions into seeing the world in black and white. The first step is dialogue, and then after doing so realizing that for the most part, we all want the same thing, to keep our kids safe, to keep all people safe from gun violence. To walk our streets not feeling like we need to bring a gun with us, and also to live our lives without being fearful of becoming a victim of gun violence.
I was honored this weekend to be asked to read one of my poems at the South Carolina Statehouse for the Wear Orange Event for National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
I had read this same poem at the SC state house three months ago, at the March for Our Lives rally. Afterward, I was asked to do a brief interview, something I was not expecting. I was asked what I thought the answer was to preventing gun violence. My answer was simple. Dialogue. To reach a consensus about a solution we need to sit down together and talk without belittling and name calling. I think the best way to do this is off the internet. Talk to real people in your community.
Finally, the reporter said something that shocked me. She said, “Most of these protestors want to ban all guns, do you agree with that?” I knew she wanted to know if I thought all guns should be banned, but something bothered me about the question, about how it was set up for a yes or no answer. On the spot and without the time to really think, I said something about preferring not to have guns in my own home and preferring to not have guns in places where I take my kid, which is true. But having thought about this question now, here is my answer: no, I don’t agree with that. I don’t agree that most protestors “just want to ban guns.” And on that note, I don’t agree that most people supporting gun rights prefer no regulations. It comes back to my answer on how we solve this issue. Dialogue. I have talked to many gun owners and ALL of the people I’ve talked to believe in safe and responsible ownership. There may be some exceptions to this rule, but in actually talking to people I’ve found it to hold true. While there may be some protesters who really would like to ban guns, what most protestors really want is for people, and especially kids, to stop dying because of gun violence. Can you stop people from dying of gun violence and have responsible gun ownership? Yes. Look at Japan. Look at Switzerland.
Don’t be tricked by yes or no questions into seeing the world in black and white. The first step is dialogue, and then after doing so realizing that for the most part, we all want the same thing, to keep our kids safe, to keep all people safe from gun violence. To walk our streets not feeling like we need to bring a gun with us, and also to live our lives without being fearful of becoming a victim of gun violence.