WASHINGTON — Six lieutenant governors from across the country joined gun violence prevention advocates to share their stories and propose solutions during a policy debate Tuesday.
The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association hosted the Gun Violence Prevention Policy Summit, which was the first event of its kind. The DLGA partnered with gun violence prevention advocacy groups Everytown for Gun Safety, March for Our Lives and Giffords, as well as the American Federation of Teachers union, for the event.
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Many of the speakers were gun violence survivors themselves and shared their stories throughout the panels, which prioritized different angles on the topic of gun violence.
The six lieutenant governors in attendance included Garlin Gilchrist of Michigan, Austin Davis of Pennsylvania, Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, Aruna Miller of Maryland, Sabina Matos of Rhode Island and David Zuckerman of Vermont.
Kevin Holst, executive director of the DLGA, moderated the event’s three panels.
The first panel focused on justice for victims of gun violence and holding the gun industry accountable for its role in perpetuating gun violence, while the second panel highlighted ways to Help young people feel safe in their communities, including at school. The third panel concluded the event by focusing on the “disarmament” of hatred.
Panelists discussed policy solutions at the local, state and federal levels. Some have called for federal measures such as strengthening background checks and a national ban on assault weapons.
More broadly, panelists said addressing a variety of issues, such as poverty, access to quality education and more, is a necessary step to preventing gun violence.
Gilchrist said gun violence is a problem that “literally every American faces.”
“There isn’t an American you can talk to who doesn’t have a direct connection to the issue of gun violence and who doesn’t have an interest in seeing fewer people die in gun-related deaths,” Gilchrist said.
Guns and democracy
Holst guided the event’s first panel to analyze what he called “the connection between guns and democracy.”
Speakers on the first panel included Gilchrist, Giffords Law Center Chief Counsel and Vice President Adam Skaggs, Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read and Giffords Law Center gun and democracy attorney Jessie Ojeda.
Gilchrist said that “in the face of this vocal and dangerous minority of people who frankly believe more in guns than in voting,” it is important to show voters that “this system can be strengthened to be more robust.”
Ojeda said she has two “fundamental” policy suggestions for state legislatures to adopt.
First, she called on states to ban the open and concealed carry of firearms in or near polling places. She said 12 states have these types of policies in place.
His second recommendation was that states expand their anti-bullying laws to recognize guns.
“No state currently has a law expressly recognizing inherent gun intimidation at polling places,” Ojeda said.
Gilchrist spoke about his experience on April 30, 2020, when armed protesters entered the Michigan State Capitol to demand an end to the state’s COVID-19 safer-at-home order.
He said that at the time, the Michigan Capitol was one of two state Capitol buildings in the country allowing people to bring guns into the building. That has since changed, he said.
“We still see people opposing this policy,” Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist described seeing people lined up — with guns — on both sides of the sidewalk on his usual route to the Capitol building.
Holding the gun industry accountable
Gilchrist, who highlighted his state’s recent passage of background check and stockpiling laws, said there “absolutely needs to be held accountable” for those who manufacture, manufacture, market and distribute firearms.
Skaggs said “irresponsible marketing and advertising” by some gun companies has favored white supremacist and extremist logos.
“We have gun manufacturers that appeal to the lowest common denominator, if you want to look at it that way,” Skaggs said.
Skaggs said that because governments are “significant consumers” in the gun industry, they should then look to their suppliers. Those suppliers could then, in turn, “be held to higher standards,” Skaggs said.
“I think passing these kinds of laws that open the courthouse doors to litigation on behalf of victims of gun violence, on behalf of communities that have high rates of gun violence, that really has the opportunity to transform the industry behavior,” Skaggs said, “and the standards that the industry holds itself to and that we as communities and as a nation hold them to.”
Ojeda said gun companies often target children and young adults in their marketing, and drew a comparison to how tobacco companies have similarly targeted this demographic. This marketing of firearms targeting youth is unregulated, Ojeda said.
Youth Safety
The event’s second panel highlighted survivors of gun violence, including Executive Director and Co-Founder of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, Abbey Clements.
“Gun violence is present in classrooms across the country,” said Clements, a teacher and survivor of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. A gunman entered the school and killed 26 people – 20 students and six adults.
Clements said there is a “love” and “deep connection” between her and her students who also survived.
“They are truly heartbroken towards our generation,” Clements said.
Clements expressed concerns about how lockdown drills in schools are inflicting additional trauma on students. She said exercises need to be “trauma-informed.”
Davis said that as a child, he had a life-changing experience with gun violence. There was a shooting in front of his home, where he was with his mother.
“I remember the look on her face and how terrified she was,” Davis said. “And I think that was the first time she felt like she couldn’t protect us from outside forces.”
The impact of gun violence on his community inspired him to get involved in activism.
“Over the course of my career, I’ve seen that same look on the faces of mothers and community members all over Pennsylvania, and really across the country,” Davis said. “That same feeling of hopelessness, that same feeling of being trapped in a community. »
Davis said combatting gun violence requires investing more in community programs and “addressing the root causes of poverty.”
That means investing in education systems and workforce development programs, Davis said.
“We’re only going to be able to solve this problem if we take care of all of these things and take a comprehensive approach to prevention,” Davis said.
Flanagan said it is important to invest in mental health care for students, both inside and outside of school. She said it’s also important that schools have the financial support they need to hire and retain mental health professionals.
Flanagan said his state of Minnesota has spent “hundreds of millions of dollars” on projects based on “communities of color and indigenous communities.” She said that money was used to create infrastructure for mental health and wellness centers, community organizations and an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Minneapolis to provide opportunities for people.
“Those things are important and it’s also part of how we approach gun violence prevention by making sure that there are strong places in communities, created by the communities themselves, to create those spaces where people feel seen, heard, valued and protected,” Flanagan said.
March for Our Lives board president Tre Bosley, who lost his brother to gun violence in 2006, said the government must take a “holistic approach to gun violence in black and white communities.” brown”.
Bosley said violence prevention “is different” in his Chicago community. He said his organization took a group of kids “who had never been out of their neighborhood” to downtown Chicago.
“It’s not going to be covered by some policies, some grants, but it’s violence prevention,” Bosley said. “I show them another side of the city they live in that they would never know, to make them see life differently.”
Removal of weapons
During the event’s third and final panel, panelists discussed the assault weapons ban, the intersection of domestic violence and gun violence, and the repeal of “Stand Your Ground”.
That panel included Miller, Matos, Zuckerman and Monisha Henley, senior vice president of government affairs for Everytown for Gun Safety. Gun safety activist and former NFL player Brandon Short was also on the panel.
Short, who played for the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers, turned to activism after his pregnant daughter was shot and killed by her partner.
Homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women, and those deaths are often attributed to guns, Short said.
Short said there are currently 28 states in which a convicted domestic abuser can possess a gun.
“I don’t think there should be a state in our union where you should be able to hold a gun and be convicted of injuring a woman,” Short said.
Matos pointed to a law in his state that allows judges to take away guns from people convicted of domestic violence. She told other policymakers in the room that if they implemented a similar policy, they would need to make sure that process was automatic. Otherwise, victims of domestic violence may have to ask for this to happen.
Henley and Short said “Stand Your Ground” laws must be repealed. These laws often allow people to shoot or kill someone when they feel threatened, but that is often difficult to prove, Short said.
Henley said once gun violence prevention policies are passed, leaders need to do more to “bring stakeholders together” and broadcast public service announcements so people can know and understand these new laws.
“The last piece is having a reporting mechanism,” Henley said. “So you really have to understand how it works, so that if you need to make adjustments, you have to learn from it, all of these things exist together.”
