THE REHABILITATION TOUR

“The world howls for social justice, but when it comes to social responsibility,
you sometimes can’t even hear crickets chirping.”
~ Dean Koontz

Dear Fellow Activists,

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about communal responsibility, specifically who is held accountable for all the actions of all others in their group or community — and who is not.  As a minority, there have been many times when a terrible wrong doing is reported and I silently pray that the perpetrator is not a member of my group.  People of color and of religious minorities in this country know exactly what I’m talking about.

But what of gun owners?  Why do they get to escape communal responsibility?  When there is a mass murder or a report comes out announcing that gun-related injuries are now the leading cause of death in children and teens in America, why aren’t all gun owners — as individuals and as a group — held responsible?  Why isn’t there pressure put on each individual gun owner to openly denounce what has become a daily occurrence in America — death by firearm?   Why aren’t they shamed into denouncing the NRA or other gun lobbying groups, sellers, and manufacturers?  Why aren’t they shunned, embarrassed, excluded from our dinner tables?

Many gun violence prevention groups reach out to gun owners in an attempt to get them to work together to help prevent gun violence.  There is actually a gun-owner organization that says that they are committed to gun safety and responsible gun ownership … and the 2nd amendment.  When they publish their survey findings about the high percentage of gun owners who support universal background checks or safe gun storage including NRA members, I roll my eyes and think “Rehabilitation Tour.”

Because no matter what individual gun owners say about safe gun storage or closing the Charleston Loophole or prohibiting domestic abusers from owning guns, I only care about what they do.  Do they vote for legislators and policymakers that will support gun regulations that will help keep our children, families, and communities safe?  For the most part, they don’t.

That’s why WoMen Against Gun Violence has started naming shootings across America for legislators that block gun regulations that could help save lives.  So far we’ve named the recent shooting in Brooklyn for Senator Ted Cruz, the numerous mass shootings over Easter weekend for Senator Mitch McConnell, and the mass murder of a family including two children in Duluth, Minnesota, for U.S. Representative Pete Stauber who represents Duluth and who has proudly voted against universal background checks and closing the Charleston Loophole.

But maybe that isn’t enough.  Maybe we need to start naming shootings after individual gun owners who vote these legislators into office.  That’s something to think about.

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we are stronger together!

Margot Bennett
Executive Director

Be a trickle up activist!   Vote  in every single election — local, state, and federal!