If we're going to get a handle on gun violence in this country, the women of this nation will
have to take the bull by the horns. We will have to be agresssive but patient, and understand that it will take time, and be part of a huge educational campaign similar with what happened with tobacco; but if we unite in our aims and are vigilent, we can make it happen.
As with tobacco and the movement to educate people on the dangers of cigarette smoking, it began with a public education campaign on TV and radio. We can do this with guns as well.
Most people who have a gun in the home, do so for their personal safety. However, we first need to educate people, particularly women, that they are more likely to die at the hands of a loved one from a gun in your home, or an accident, than from a stranger or intruder in your home. According to FBI statistics, women are more likely to die from a husband or a boyfriend than an intruder.
First, a public service campaign blanketed across the media will go a long way to educate people and change attitudes about guns and gun ownership in the homes. Secondly, once women know that a gun in the home, does not ensure their safety, and may in fact threaten their very safety or their children’s safety, than hopefully women will choose to ban guns from their homes themselves instead of waiting for the government to do so.
I know there will be plenty who will argue their 2nd amendment constitutional right to “keep and bear arms” and the need for a “well regulated militia”. They will argue that if more people were armed we’d have less violence. Law enforcement agencies dispute these claims. They say that if more people had been armed in the theater in Aurora Colorado, you would have likely had more dead people from people returning fire in a crowded movie theater. When more people are armed, a gun is more likey to be the first resort than a last resort. When more people are armed, you are more likely to be shot as the result of a dispute which gets out of hand, or by a loved one, or by accident, than from a stranger.
Yes the government has a role to play in this issue. They can start by closing the gunshow loophole which allows people to sell guns at gun shows without doing background checks. But as with most issues, we cannot always wait for government.
Yes our communities may feel more dangerous than ever before, but the solution to taking back our neighborhoods will not come from arming the public. As in most issues, the solution begins at home.
