Roughly 500 people converged on the courthouse lawn in Goshen on Saturday, March 24, to demand action on gun violence. It was the biggest local demonstration I’ve attended in my nearly 30 years as a resident — and I’ve attended plenty of demonstrations.
Student organizers invited local, state and national elected officials to march with them, to listen to their call for action. I walked the route from the high school to the courthouse alongside a handful of young people. They carried signs and chanted enthusiastically (“No more SILENCE! End gun VIOLENCE!“), their voices growing stronger and louder as they hit their stride and gained confidence.
Once we all arrived downtown, the crowd shivered together in the cold spring wind, listening to pleas from teachers and students and (heartbreakingly) from the mother of a gun violence victim.
Do something.
People are dying.
Universal background checks, waiting periods; banning bump stocks, military-grade weapons and high-capacity magazines; red flag laws, mental health funding, gun violence research… these are some of the modest common sense requests being made here and elsewhere. These are not fringe ideas; they are widely popular in this country — regardless of political affiliation.
One of the things organizers had us do on Saturday was mingle in the crowd and talk with strangers about gun policy. I ended up speaking with a married couple from Goshen. Among other things, we discussed the fact that state legislators have made it nearly impossible for Indiana municipalities to regulate firearm activity. We talked about State Senator Blake Doriot’s recent mailer in which he named “removing barriers to acquiring a handgun license” as one of his top legislative priorities. As a groundswell of support for gun safety builds, Indiana inches in a different direction… and our very own state senator is an NRA-backed, strong “pro-gun” voice at the statehouse. It serves as a reminder that rousing speeches at a courthouse may stir the soul, but only politicians get to propose and vote on legislation. What ever the topic, it’s important to note the names of those who cast the votes — and how they vote — to demystify the democratic process.
While most gun legislation happens at the state level, significant policy change requires engaging with law-makers at every level of government. Some representatives will try to compartmentalize themselves out of the conversation. Don’t let them. Local elected officials can push on representatives at the county and state level, who can push on national politicians. It happens all the time. I can’t speak for other local elected officials, but I assure you that I didn’t go looking to bring this issue into Goshen politics. Believe me, it’s always easier to lay low and dodge hard subjects, but when people gather in large numbers and ask to be heard, it feels like our duty to show up and hear them.
While I know a majority of American voters support basic gun safety laws, I also know many don’t. It’s likely that some reading this piece believe in entirely unregulated gun rights. There are those who even believe that more guns will make us safer. I really thought people only pretended to believe such things until recently when I heard a man propose arming teachers in the school his grandchildren attend. I knew immediately that he was sincere, because no one plays politics with their loved ones’ lives. Considering our gun violence statistics, I’m baffled by that perspective, but hearing the man did much to soften my heart for those in the “pro-gun” camp. As this conversation percolates, I will make every effort to remember that some people see guns, not as danger, but primarily as protection (against a home-invasion, a school-shooter, or against a tyrannical government gone wild). And I hope we can all remember that we’re on an imaginary see-saw together, some on one side and some on the other… each group’s fear rising and falling with the adding or subtracting of guns.
Finally, let’s not be tricked into thinking this is a fight between gun owners and non-gun owners rather than a unified fight to save lives. I live in a home with guns. My husband is a hunter (so is my brother-in-law). I’ve traipsed into the woods wearing bright orange and taken my turn shooting. Of course, a .22 is just a “small,” “low-caliber” weapon. Never mind that it felt shockingly powerful the first time I pulled the trigger, that it made my jaw drop and my heart thump. And for weeks afterwards, it made me look at things differently. I found myself sizing up the ducks on the pond beyond my yard (Could I hit that one in the head from here?), and the squirrels… and even the feisty dog that lived down the street. Nothing had changed except the fact that I had fired a gun. Suddenly this left-leaning middle-aged woman saw “targets” all around her.
Guns are exhilarating. They can be fun. But they are serious. They kill. They maim. They are not toys. Not everyone should have one.