Guns kill. We all know that and the numbers are staggering. Family, co-workers, “friends”, and strangers kill 80 people a day nationwide in violent attacks. Some have guns legally, some do not. There is nothing new in this and the information we share about gun violence is not new either.
I read a quip today that said in Japan you are as likely to be killed by gun violence as an America is to be killed by a lightning strike. Yes, you read that right.
In an election year where Donald Trump continues to lie about Hillary Clinton wanting to eliminate the Second Amendment (something she can’t do as president, but since when do facts matter), gun violence was barely mentioned during the Presidential Debate on Monday night.
Some issues, like gun violence, have a way of blending into the background as we get closer and closer to an election of this magnitude. Some of the reasons include, from the Left, that if the campaign does talk passionately about gun control, the Right will pile on with Second Amendment attacks, whether they are real or not. And they are NOT.
After the horrors of Sandyhook, Columbine, San Bernardino, Charlestown, Orlando and too many others to mention – not that they aren’t deserving of a mention – and NOTHING has been done legislatively, it is no wonder that we continue to see massive and unnecessary gun violence in this country. And we will continue to until Congress stops bowing to their NRA gods and their henchmen who are in some respects complicit to so many deaths.
To me, anyway, that is factually correct. You see, we will never know what could have been because you can’t undo what has been, as we all know all too well, as do the many lives that are forever changed by gun violence.
How any member of Congress that blockades gun reform in this country can live with themselves is beyond my comprehension.
But as the gun violence debate quietly envelopes the country, that does not mean that the on-going effort to educate, reform and attempt to grow the legions of people who want and need gun control reform in this country has gone quietly away, as it has not.
Exhibit A is Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, led by Executive Director Linda Brundage, a Lansing-based Psychologist, who has been at the forefront of this education and activist movement in Michigan for years now. Her tireless efforts has seen this organization grow substantially, but there is always room for more and in that vein, I am sharing with you an event this Saturday at Michigan State University that is not just worthy of your time, but is a critical outreach to those who want to learn more, advance the message of gun control and reform and support those who have lost loved ones to gun violence.
The schedule is as follows and is FREE to attend:
Saturday, October 1—Symposium
11:30 AM – 1:15 PM Free screening of “Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA” Greenwald (dir.) Brave New Films, 2016. Running time 103 minutes (Room 12, Auditorium)
1:15-2:00 Pre-show discussion with Members of Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence (Studio Theatre, Auditorium)
2:00 Performance of Punk Rock (Studio Theatre) About a group of defiant British students on the precipice of adulthood that challenge the establishment and each other, including the issue of gun violence.
3:30-5:00 Post show round table with various law enforcement officials, student groups and related experts on the subject of gun violence. (Studio Theatre)
This is not a solicitation for donations. It is free, but not without a cost. The cost is simple: how many more lives need to be lost to gun violence before we demand that Congress do their job and create real reforms that include much harsher criminal penalties for violators of the laws that need to be on the books. We need an army to do that and that army is just not big enough yet, but with your help, it can grow.
Please consider attending and getting involved with the Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence. More information about Saturday’s free event can be found HERE.
