One of these days, it will be your turn.
You’ll have figured out that there really is something that ordinary people – like you, like us, like them – can do to prevent gun violence. You’ll have identified the officials on your city council who feel the way you do. Once they know that preventing gun violence is important to their constituents, they’ll be more confident about bringing it up for public comment and a vote. They’ll tee up an ordinance mandating the safe storage of firearms.
That’s when it will be your turn.
You’ll walk up to the microphone and get your one, two or three minutes to explain clearly and publicly why the measure is sensible and can save lives.
What are you going to say?
The big picture
First, zoom out.
“Safe storage plays a big role in keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” you’ll say. “That’s going to make this town safer for the people who live here. But it’s also going to make it safer for thousands more people.
“Think of the people who live elsewhere and come here to work every day. Safe Storage will protect them.
“What about the people who come here every year to visit parks, shop in stores and dine in restaurants? Safe Storage will protect them.
“Then there are the student athletes who come here to compete against our children in softball, football, water polo and other sports. Safe Storage will protect them.
“Plus, it will protect people who never set foot here. With 200,000 guns stolen every year in the U.S., safe storage will reduce the risk of one of those guns coming from our homes and vehicles, then being used somewhere else.
“That’s a lot of people you can make safer by voting for this safe storage ordinance.”
The smaller picture
Then, zoom in. Address the objections that the council members have heard.
Here’s what works for us in the San Diego area; modify it for your region.
“This safe storage law provides for gun owners’ desired access to their gun to protect themselves in their homes. The gun need not be locked if it is carried on the body of the authorized user or is within their immediate control. If a gun is locked, it can be accessed in seconds from a locked container using a short code or biometrics.
“How often do gun owners need a firearm to defend themselves? Not very often. The 2023 SD County Gun Violence Reduction Assessment found that there were only 4 defensive gun uses per year in the entire county.
“And, safe storage laws are consistent with the Second Amendment. They remain constitutional and have been repeatedly upheld by courts. There is no case law since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision to suggest otherwise.
“Locked guns prevent teen suicides. That matters when suicide rates of youth aged 10-24 have increased 7 percent in the county in recent years, with 21 teens dying in 2020. More than 70 percent of our firearm deaths are suicides. Safe storage protects people – including children – who live in households with guns.
“The objections to sensible safe-storage laws just don’t hold water.”
Political safety in numbers
Of course, political climate will be a big factor in your success. Few elected officials can effect change simply because it’s the right thing to do. They need to know that they have popular support and that they’re not going out on a limb trying to prevent gun violence.
The more people you take with you to the council meeting, the better. Those numbers take time to build, too. You may have to keep the issue visible and develop relationships for months before you find like-minded neighbors and citizens.
It may take years before a council member feels comfortable enough to sponsor something like a safe storage ordinance. And – let’s be honest – your chances are better in a place like California or Massachusetts than in Louisiana or Oklahoma.
The naysayers
We’re not sure why, but we find that the arguments for safely storing firearms don’t play well with gun-rights advocates. Therefore, not everyone will agree with what you say.
So, while you’re standing at the microphone making your case, you may hear dismissive snickering from people in the audience. You may hear muttered remarks like “Baloney” or “Nanny state.” Maybe worse. Take it in stride; you have your opinion and they have theirs.
You may even hear something like the jaw-dropping objection we recently heard from an elected official: “You know, sixty or seventy years ago, before we had gun laws, there was no gun violence. Now, the more gun laws we have, the more gun violence there is.”
We really thought we had already heard everything. Guess we hadn’t. We’ll keep working at it.
Meanwhile, we invite you to take this page from our playbook and try it with your city council. Let us know if you need help.
Gerry Braun is a volunteer and Therese Hymer is the president of and a volunteer with San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention.
Photo credit: City of Detroit, public domain