Find middle ground on gun violence measures
and separate from ammunition”.
As background, I am an enthusiastic supporter of efforts to prevent gun violence. And, I have avid gun owners in my family. So on this day, out of curiosity, I went to the National Rifle Association’s (web site to see if there were resources that might address this terrible tragedy. Despite the NRA’s current financial and legal difficulties, I found lots of educational and training programs on their website. Who knew?
One that caught my eye is titled, “Eddie Eagle Gun Safe.” This program is designed for younger children and gives them specific, easily memorized slogans to enhance protections against unintentional gun use by children. For example, they teach children what to do if they find agun(
The Brady Campaign and the NRA have for years been bitter and entrenched adversaries. Searching for common ground has been unthinkable.
Yet, here are two national organizations with extremely different philosophies who share one goal: preventing unintentional deaths/injuries from firearms among youngsters resulting from improper storage of guns.
There are proven, effective ways for adversaries to reach mutual goals, like reducing gun violence. One way is to initiate contact between two unlikely collaborators; in this case, the Brady Campaign and the NRA. But both sides must be willing to search for common ground and be
Edwin Rivera, a 17-year-old Lothian resident and senior at Southern High, died on Christmas after a gun discharged while a teenage relative was handling it. KEONTE SMITH/COURTESY willing to share resources.
Would such a search between some of the violence prevention groups and the gun rights groups find opportunities for progress on mutually agreed upon goals? Maybe or maybe not.
But common ground is something for which we are all searching these divided days. Without that search, we continue at cross purposes and little progress can be expected.
What better time than now, with gun violence in the headlines again, to consider joining together to address an area of shared concern and commitment? Isn’t this a reasonable place to start: the safety of all children? Who can be against that?