Gun Safety: Put me in coach
BY DONNA WALD AND JUDY SHERRY
Many of us have grandchildren playing sports and we have often watched them both in person and on video streaming. We are thankful that sports distract them from many other harmful influences in their world. Sports create friendships, build character, and expose children to many skills they will need later in life.
In many ways, advocacy for an issue utilizes many of the attributes and goals of sports. Grandparents Uniting for Gun Safety was founded to bring a team of people together across the United States to advocate digitally for gun violence prevention and we have found the parallels to sports to be relevant.
“Because gun violence is a many-headed monster, we find ourselves with plenty of offensive and defensive opportunities – just like sports teams.”
Let’s take hockey to make it easy. First, you need a good coach who knows the game and the strategies to make you successful. We work with partners in the gun violence prevention arena who have been in this fight for many years. As co-founders of Grandparents Uniting for Gun Safety, our experience alone is over twenty years. We follow a sound strategy in the initiatives we provide to our network – a strategy that involves many other tactics.
And what about the offense and the defensive lines in sports? Because gun violence is a many-headed monster, we find ourselves with plenty of offensive and defensive opportunities – just like sports teams. We go on the offensive when we see laws we would like to change, institute, or modify to correct an issue and we go on the defensive when laws protecting us are challenged or new laws are proposed to make us less safe.
One thing you learn in sports is persistence. A famous hockey legend said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” That is why you will see us asking you to advocate for some of the same powerhouse initiatives over and over. Like hockey, we need to have a puck at the net constantly and keep pushing that puck till it goes in. Success can be determined by forces beyond our control, but we always need to have the backing of legislators and others on our initiatives to bring them for a vote.
“Be fearless, hold your government and all its agencies accountable to do their job.”
Versatility is something you learn early when playing sports. How many angles do you have, how many plays do you have, and do you know where to go when the going gets rough? We have always been impressed by the versatility of the gun violence prevention movement. When they couldn’t sue gun manufacturers under one statute, they found another way. When they couldn’t get legislation passed on a federal level, they turned to the states to get it done there. You can do that too. When you see an initiative that is going to be dangerous, call it out immediately and get busy!
Be fearless, and hold your government and all its agencies accountable for doing their job. That happened when citizens advocated for a Gun Violence Prevention Office in the White House and got it.
Just like sports, gun violence prevention is a team effort, and we invite you to join our team at grandparentsunitingforgunsafety.org. Just click here to sign up and add your voice to ours. There is no membership fee, and we will send you an educational newsletter once a month and an advocacy alert so you can advocate for safer spaces for all of us.
One thing that differentiates us from sports, we save lives
