Last Monday, my class met with members of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. In light of the Las Vegas shooting, reflecting on this meeting makes me more considerate of what was said. We discussed the gun lobby and how most gun deaths—almost half—result from suicide rather than murder or accident. While I wanted to listen, I had to remain cautious because of my first impression—two members of their group denigrating the ideas of the National Rifle Association. I understand the groups see each other as rivals, but the open hostility made me doubt the CSGV’s professionalism. Fortunately, I found its representatives much more open to opposing points of view, regarding gun ownership and Second Amendment rights, as the meeting went on. The group made good points—gun laws need significant improvement for rates of gun death to drop—but I couldn’t help feeling the issue would never go away until guns were either accessible to all or banned completely. Until then, neither side has a reason to quit.
