I Hate Guns.
Why would I spend my Sunday afternoon attending and speaking at a Democratic Gun Club BBQ?
The short answer: community.
The long answer?
I didn’t grow up around guns. Spending the first part of my childhood in a more urban environment, in Hammond, Indiana, the only time I heard about guns was from the news. As I understood it, criminals had guns, not anyone else. Even after moving to Elkhart County, a more rural part of the state, my opposition to guns was once again confirmed in April of 1999. I was a freshman in high school and I watched kids my age get mowed down by other kids my age at Columbine High School in Colorado. It was very clear that guns were not for me, they were only to be used as a weapon against me and against the people I love.
As I got older, navigating some toxic relationships, I gained further understanding that the presence of guns in a volatile relationship increases the chances of death. I am forever grateful for the family member that had the knowledge and presence of mind to remove the firearms from a home where domestic violence was occurring. That action may have very well saved the life of a person I love deeply and could not imagine living without.
Fast forward a few years and I am working an isolated job late at night. My ex-husband wanted me to carry a gun and of course, I resisted at first. I finally relented, got my permit, and learned how to shoot. While I may never again own a firearm, I grew to appreciate the power that comes from reclaiming a tool, a gun, that had previously only been a tool of oppression and making it mine.
That is exactly the approach that “Dem Guns” an Elkhart County Democratic Gun Club takes. My friend Aaron started the club with the intention of not only teaching people how to safely own, store, care for, and shoot a gun, but also to make it loud and clear that guns are not only for Republicans or conservatives. The 2nd amendment is for everyone and Dem Guns rejects the narrative that only straight white dudes get to use firearms.
When Aaron invited me to speak at the BBQ on Sunday, June 22, he said to me, “you don’t have to talk about guns, lol.” It led to a very productive conversation and I quickly appreciated the intention of the club and the intention of the event.
Compared to previous generations, we are a lot less socially-involved today. Participation in extra-curricular events and clubs for adults has dramatically decreased over the past few decades. This disconnect didn’t happy overnight and it didn’t happen by accident. There have been deliberate policy changes over the last generation that have left less time for volunteering, community activities, and leisure. Overall, we work more hours today than our parents or grandparents did and major changes so our time at home is even more precious. Policy changes to K-12 education, for example, like school choice in largely conservatives states has led to students not going to school with their neighbors. The kids in the neighborhood don’t know each other and the parents don’t know each other. We have less time for face-to-face connections and with the advent of social media, virtual connections have taken priority.
The MAGA movement, the authoritarian movement taking over the United States at this time thrives on division and fear. When we sit in our homes, scrolling on our devices, afraid of our neighbors, we further isolate ourselves and make MAGA’s job so much easier.
That is exactly why I attended “Dem Guns.”
Gathering with our neighbors, our community, in-person, off of our devices is critical. Whether it’s guns or bowling or a book club or birdwatching, sharing a hobby is a wonderful way to get to know your neighbors beyond politics.
This is how we start to patch the holes in the fabric of our community. Holes that have led us to hunker down in our silos of our homes, our devices, our media bubbles, and our political bubbles.
Class solidarity for the bottom 95% of Americans is required at this moment. Regardless of who your neighbor voted for, you are both in the same boat with the other 95% of Americans who are not benefiting from the system in the US. Think of the class solidarity exhibited by the top 5%. They stick together to achieve their common goal; to keep getting richer. They are terrified of the bottom 95% of Americans mustering even a fraction of that solidarity so they work to distract.
It is imperative that we work to build bridges across the trenches that have been dug between us.
I am under no illusion it will be easy. It will take work. It will take years. It will require us emerging from our silos of self-preservation.
The folks that attended yesterday’s “Dem Guns” BBQ took the first step. Regardless of how they feel about guns, they put down their phones, left their homes, and joined their neighbors for food and fellowship.
If we commit to repeating that process over and over and over again, it really can be that simple.