THE WOMAN BATTLING GUN FREEDOM I’ve had threats, I’ve lost friends, I’ve lost a job ...but I have to stop this deadly curse
CAMPAIGNING for gun control in one of the most heavily armed places in the world can be a lonely and dangerous job.
Julie Garvan, 40, is one of the few women speaking out on the dangers of firearms to citizens in the “open carry” state of Texas – where an adult can buy an AK47 without a licence and walk down the street with it.
Despite threats and intimidation, she leads an underground movement of 50 volunteers in the Dallas area.
Yesterday, at the spot where former soldier Micah Johnson killed five white police officers on July 7 amid escalating racial tensions, she told how she is uncertain of what the future holds.
She said: “Anything is possible with tensions so high. Nobody should have to live in this kind of environment.”
As we met at the building where Johnson was cornered and killed, Julie got a text from a friend asking if it was safe for her daughter to return to Dallas. “There isn’t a large effort for gun control in Dallas,” she said.
“We have threats. One volunteer got a letter and decided to step away from campaigning and had to take her social media accounts down. I’ve lost friends over this. I missed out on a job because of this. I was told in an interview they were ‘concerned about my activism’. I never got another call.”
Julie grew up in rural Ohio and her family owned guns. She backs ownership for hunting or home security.
Responsibility
But she said: “I’d love to see a limit on high-capacity magazines and assault rifles. I grew up around guns and I’m not afraid of them. But there is a time and a place for them. When you take a gun on to the street you are taking everyone’s lives in your responsibility. No one asked for that.”
Just ten days after Johnson’s Dallas rampage, three more officers were shot dead in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They were the latest shootings in reaction to police killings of black men. But a media focus on police shootings overshadows the fact that 99 people were shot dead in Dallas last year.
They included high school student Kierra Robinson, 19, who was hit in a crossfire outside her home. Of the 99 victims, 88 were shot with a handgun and 11 with a shotgun or rifle.
In recent years, concerned women formed Moms Demand Action. But when they arranged a meeting in neighbouring Arlington, a group of pro- gun activists staged a protest, hurling abuse outside. Julie said: “They showed up with their assault rifles. It’s intimidating.”
Intimidation is common for anti-gun campaigners. Jennifer Longdon was paralysed in 2004. After speaking at a press conference for Everytown for Gun Safety in 2014, a stranger spat in her face. The previous year, in her hometown of Phoenix, Jennifer helped coordinate a gun buyback and took 2,000 off the streets. She got home one night and a man stepped out of the shadows, pointed a rifle at her and fired.
Water came out and he yelled: “Don’t you wish you had a gun now, bitch?” Jennifer said: “It was like a mock execution. I’ve been about as broken as I can be by gun violence. So I’m not going to be afraid of it again.” Pro-gun activists have even had their personal details posted online. Despite a passion for the campaign, Julie admitted she does not feel safe taking her message to the streets. She said: “I still feel anxiety. I stay about a block away from any protests and watch from a distance. I’ve been a victim of this and I don’t want to be again.” Julie was referring to an incident at university 17 years ago when a man pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger. She said: “I don’t know if it jammed or wasn’t loaded. I kind of froze. Then I just ran.” Security found handguns and knives in the man’s dorm. But the incident was treated as a minor misdemeanour and police were not informed.
“For years I wouldn’t talk about it,” Julie said. “They put it down to him being immature and confiscated his weapons. A year later he raped a student. I feel guilty. If I’d gone to the police someone may not have been raped. I’m trying to make amends.”
Gun laws have been relaxed in the past two decades partly because of mass shootings, from Columbine High School in 1999 to Pulse in Orlando last month. The powerful Open Carry Texas argues “good guys” can fight back against maniac gunmen.
Yet at the Black Lives Matter event