As a Friend in Washington working on gun violence policy and advocacy these last few months, I was tremendously energized by being part of FCNL’s 2023 Spring Lobby Weekend (SLW).
Sometimes advocating for preventing gun violence can seem challenging and, frankly, a bit lonely. So, the opportunity to spend time with more than 300 young and motivated people who came to Washington, D.C., to lobby for dedicated funding for Community Violence Interrupters was refreshing.
Sometimes advocating for preventing gun violence can seem challenging and, frankly, a bit lonely.
Violence interrupter programs are proven, community-led solutions to stop community violence before it happens, and it is one critical avenue among many to prevent gun violence in our country.
Learning About the Many Forms of Gun Violence, and Solutions
As part of the training that FCNL provided these mostly first-time lobbyists, I presented a workshop on the many forms of gun violence and the potential solution sets—both legislative and non-legislative (like memorials, gun buybacks, and the “guns to gardening tools” movement.)
One theme we discussed is safety. The common public narrative is that guns make us safer, but that is not inherently true. Too often, they make us less secure by adding another way for things to go tragically wrong in volatile situations. The presence of a gun can make a domestic abuse incident deadly, a suicide attempt fatal, or a child’s play date take a tragic turn.
The young adults attending SLW learned that a handgun in your house is 22 times more likely to be used against a family member or friend than an intruder. And that more Americans have been killed by guns since 1968 than in all the wars America ever took part in combined.
A Slow Motion War
Quakers believe that there is that of the divine in every individual, and so we commit to a peace testimony that works to “take away the occasion of all wars.” Given the horrific (and rising) number of shootings in the United States, what is the consequence of gun violence but a war?
Gun violence is a slow-motion war in our streets, homes, places of worship, and everywhere we might go. Taking away the occasion for this kind of war requires community efforts to keep conflict from becoming deadly through programs like violence interrupters. It also means addressing gun availability, making guns less accessible to use by accident, on impulse, and by people already known to have a risk of using them to hurt themselves or others.
Sometimes the movement to end gun violence gains momentum as when mass shootings occur. These terrible moments generate press coverage, public outrage, and movement for changes to our laws, but this momentum can too quickly fade. And the thousands of people who die each year in urban communities, disproportionately people of color, generally don’t make national news. Gun deaths from suicide and domestic violence are also not front and center in our national consciousness.
Gun violence should not be a normal part of our lives, yet it is. Having so many people lobbying with us to address this problem and support a solution was an important step.
The longer this everyday violence continues, the easier it is to take it for granted. Gun violence should not be a normal part of our lives, yet it is. Having so many people lobbying with us to address this problem and support a solution was an important step.
Finally, Some Progress with More to Do
Some progress was finally made at the federal level with the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Community Act (Public Law No: 117-159) in 2022, but much more is needed. Necessary steps include a federal ban on assault weapons, more funding for violence interrupters, and repealing the 2005 law that protects gun manufacturers from lawsuits. These measures have been proven to work. During a federal ban on assault weapons from 1994-2004, mass shootings dropped 37%, and the resulting fatalities dropped 43%.
Most Americans favor changes to our laws, like closing the loopholes in background checks. These legal gaps allow guns to be purchased through private sales or on websites without verifying the buyer’s identity or history. These exchanges account for more than 22% of gun sales. Laws that temporarily remove guns from individuals who seem imminently likely to hurt themselves or others—Extreme Risk Protection Orders, or so-called “red flag laws”—are another popular proposal. From 2016 to 2018, these laws helped prevent 21 mass shootings in California.
Constantly Working for Success
Members of Congress continue to work to advance these measures at a federal level, although progress is slow.
I am committed to this work, and I am glad to be joined by the young adults who lobbied with FCNL during Spring Lobby Weekend and all the people who support this effort. As FCNL’s first Executive Secretary, E. Raymond Wilson, wrote in 1943, “We ought to be willing to work for causes which will not be won now but cannot be won in the future unless the goals are staked out now and worked for energetically over a period of time.”
I hope you will join us and make your voice heard today and in the future, as we continue to work for peace in our homes and communities.
For more information: Contact Peter at pdmurch [at] gmail.com
