Exactly one year after the Michigan State University shooting, University of Michigan students and community members gathered at the Michigan Union for a one-day series called “Public Health Approaches to Ending Gun Violence.” The series, co-sponsored by the School of Public Health and the university's Firearm Injury Prevention Institute, educates community members about what firearms injury prevention leaders are doing to change laws and engages participants in the community. The aim is to educate people on how to bring about change. Preventing gun violence.
The event began with a keynote address by Brandon Wolfe, an LGBTQ+ rights activist and survivor of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. Wolfe spoke about his childhood as a black queer kid in a small town and finding people who accepted his identity as an adult. , giving him confidence and a sense of belonging. Wolf said he has become heavily involved in advocacy efforts to reduce gun violence since the night of the shooting, and has spent the past six months working in Washington, D.C., to promote “common sense” gun policies.
“When states pass a series of laws aimed at separating people from firearms who are known to be a danger to themselves or others, we see an almost immediate drop in homicide rates,” Wolf said. Ta. “Common sense policies do save lives.”
In a question and answer session after his keynote address with F. Dubois Bowman, dean of the School of Public Health, Wolf said he believes in democracy and collaboration when advocating for gun control legislation.
“If you believe in democracy, you don't have to sacrifice it to save it,” Wolf said. “I mean, that's not to say there are people who shouldn't be part of the conversation. I fundamentally believe that the only way to build a better future is to work together, and that's because sometimes we don't see eye to eye.” It also means working with people.”
When asked how others in the Ann Arbor community can make a difference, Wolf said people need to choose a cause they care about and pursue it every day. Ta.
“What I decided to do is let go of the idea that I have to solve everything,” Wolf said. “We're all in this together. I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do really well. I'm gonna do it every day. I'm hoping each of you will do your job really well.” I believe that, and I know that by combining those elements, we can solve everything.”
Following a question-and-answer session, experts in gun injury prevention spoke on a panel titled “Walking the Legislative Tightrope: Policy Solutions to Gun Violence.” Patrick Carter, associate professor of public health and emergency medicine, moderated the panel discussion. He began by discussing three pieces of gun safety legislation that took effect in Michigan on February 13th.
One of the three laws requires firearm owners to securely store their weapons if children may be present in the area where the firearm is stored. Other legislation being discussed would require universal background checks for all gun purchases and create extreme risk protection orders to remove firearms from people who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Implementation is mandatory. Celeste Kampurwala, national leader of Mothers Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said the law comes from a place of compassion for others.
“Just as people have a right to own guns, they have a right to life,” Kanpurwala said. “It's a right, but it's also a responsibility, and it's a big responsibility.”
Adaola Ezike, the city of Detroit's fund development officer, spoke on a panel and said efforts to reduce violence can be furthered by programs in public schools.
“The most innovative actions can be taken by putting music studios, recreation centers, culinary programs, expressive arts programs, etc. in schools,” Ezike said. “When we combine resilience policy and behavioral health policy, we begin to design solutions that support people in healing.”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily before the panel, LSA sophomore Natalie Wilcox said she participated in the panel because she wanted to learn more about gun control, a topic she feels personally connected to. Told.
“I've always been very interested in gun violence prevention,” Wilcox said. “I have a lot of friends who went to MSU and experienced school shootings there, and it's an issue that I always care about very much. I just want to know how I can play my role. It is.”
Following the first panel, the second panel entitled “Building the Big Tent: Community Engagement Solutions to Gun Violence” featured experts from a variety of experts working on a range of gun control projects. did.
In response to a question about involving hard-to-reach communities in gun violence reduction efforts, Rebecca Sokol, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, spoke about the importance of balance, including multiple perspectives.
“Anyone who wants to come to the table and help come up with solutions should definitely speak up,” Sokol said. “At the same time, we have to be very careful not to blame people for this problem when it is actually not their fault.”
Derrick Jackson, director of community engagement for the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, added that an important part of community involvement is involving people who have first-hand experience with gun violence.
“We hired a support team (from the sheriff's office),” Jackson said. “That's partly because we didn't need to be informants. We needed experts on the community.”
Charles Branas, director of epidemiology at Columbia University, spoke about the importance of addressing community issues.
“To address this problem, we need a program that goes as far upstream as possible,” Branas said. “These could be programs about policy or legislation. They could also be about things that at first glance have nothing to do with violence, such as good housing, access to green spaces and parks, access to jobs, etc. There's plenty of sex too. When you talk to people in the community, these are the first things they say.”
Daily staff reporters Mira Sripada and Priya Shah can be contacted at: msripada@umich.edu and priyasha@umich.edu.
