Bending the Arc

The second annual Emergency Gun Violence Summit was held in Milwaukee, WI on October 10, 2024. CSA was a community nonprofit sponsor. Three CSA Associates welcomed community leaders from Fond du Lac and Milwaukee to their table.

The summit was organized by WAVE - Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, Forward Latino and the 80% Coalition. General sessions and breakout sessions featured medical professionals from the Medical College of Wisconsin, John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, Children’s Hospital; the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention; city and state officials to include Gov. Tony Evers, AG Josh Kaul, City of Milwaukee Ald. Jose Perez, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, DA John Chisholm, WI Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Rep. Deb Andraca and more. Interfaith leaders led prayers and workshops.

Several students from area schools were also in attendance. It was reported that gun violence is the leading cause of death in children, ages 1-17. An ER physician from Milwaukee Children’s Hospital, reported the youngest patient he treated with a gunshot wound was 2 years old. Why are we not investing in ways to keep our kids safe?

According to the City of Milwaukee Office of Community Wellness and Safety, many are taking a Public Health Approach to violence. Each year, millions of individuals, families, and communities bear the physical, mental, and economic costs of violence. As a leading cause of injury, disability, and premature death, this issue compromises health and safety. Merely witnessing violent incidents can result in psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Violence discourages economic development in troubled areas, thereby affecting the accessibility of jobs, healthy food, and safe housing. The physical wellbeing of residents, who stay indoors to avoid violent behavior in their community, can exacerbate health problems. Fortunately, violence is a learned behavior and is preventable with community-wide prevention services and common sense gun laws.

In a Marquette Law School poll in 2018, Wiscosinites were asked if new gun laws would reduce mass shootings. 65% of Republicans and 19% of Democrats said not at all, yet 76% of Republicans and 41% of Democrats said they were very concerned about crime. Other results from the poll showed that 85% of the total survey were in favor of red-flag laws but only 43% of Republicans favored the ban of sales of AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles, while 87% of Democrats favored the ban.

Why so much discrepancy in common sense gun laws amidst a public health crisis? Many speculate that gun manufacturers and lobbyists have much to do with this, essentially buying the vote of many politicians. But what are average, everyday gun owners saying? I challenged myself to attend a breakout session which was a panel of gun owners to hear their perspectives. The panel was moderated by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporter, John Diedrich.

My takeaways from the gun-owning panelists were these: 1) Gun owners feel a need to own guns (often multiple) to protect themselves and their families. They use their firearms for safety and sport. 2) Gun owners want non-gun people to know they can be safe with proper training and storage. 3) Gun owners do not trust the government and feel that common sense gun laws would eventually come after their guns. When I asked the gun owners if they’ve ever had to use their weapon to protect themselves, none of them had, but they likened the peace of mind from their weapon to that of having auto or life insurance - “you hope you never have to use it, but it is there if you do.” In this same session, a father shared his efforts to keep guns out of their house to protect his family. His son had mental illness and they were able to protect him for 18 years, until he was able to purchase a gun himself and kill himself. 56% of guns deaths are suicide. Access is a major problem to gun violence. While leaving the session a little frustrated, I also imagined a possibility in gun laws that would protect people and gun owner rights if people advocated with their hearts and minds and not their wallets.

Mr. Diedrich investigated the full extent of firearm deaths in Wisconsin and the efforts put in place to prevent them in his recent “Behind the Guns” project. For more details, visit: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/special-reports/2023/12/06/behind-the-gun-read-the-entire-project-here/71814275007/