Changing the Conversation: Why I Advocated for Gun Safety with RAC-PA

As I walked off the bus in front of the Capital Building in Harrisburg on May 7th, I was approached immediately for an interview. Why, they asked, did I travel to Harrisburg to spend the day advocating for gun violence prevention and gun safety? I had to think quickly, but soon the answers came.

Every day my inbox is inundated with news of local and national shootings. Kids are killing kids. Whole neighborhoods are no longer safe. Domestic violence victims are being killed by their significant others with guns. School students and their families never know if today's the day their active shooter drills become real. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I am a co-VP of Social Action at my synagogue and VP of Advocacy for Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ Atlantic). I am also a local committeeperson, so I deal with political issues at a local level. It has all become intertwined, as the issues that matter to us locally are also relevant at state and national levels.

The best way to evoke change is to get involved on as many levels as possible. When it was suggested I become involved with RAC-PA, I chose to "check it out." I was already very involved with other organizations. Why did I need to attend more meetings and take on more work? It soon became obvious.

Being involved with RAC-PA was a way to come full circle with everything I'm involved in. My Sisterhood, my Social Action Committee, my WRJ-Atlantic peers all have a vested interest in Tikkun Olam. By involving more and more advocates under one umbrella, we have more power to facilitate change. And we need change.

On the bus to Harrisburg, I was surrounded with like-minded people when it comes to gun safety issues. We find the potential solutions presented to be common sense. We can't understand why anybody of sound mind would possibly challenge the proposed House Bills that are being negotiated.

Yet here we are writing letters to politicians, making phone calls to politicians, and now visiting their offices in Harrisburg because these bills still wait to become law. We have taken on the responsibility of advocating for common sense gun safety bills. We watched "Deadly by Design." We heard the cries and stories of people whose lives were directly impacted by gun violence. We heard their pleas for better gun laws that may have helped save their loved ones from dying. How can their cries, their suffering, their pain fall on deaf ears in the Capital?

After meeting with our local politicians, we spent an hour on the steps of the Capital listening to various politicians, clergy, and people who have been directly impacted by gun violence speak out for support. There were many children on those steps. It was a powerful hour filled with passion, pain, hope, and unity.

The rest of the afternoon included watching our Representatives in action on the floor. The long-awaited votes on two specific House Bills, one of which was HB #335 to ban Machine Gun Switches, would be announced that day. It was exciting to be in the building while the votes were being negotiated. The energy was electric- it felt like there was no way the bills wouldn't pass.

On the bus ride home, we learned that both bills had lost by one vote each. One vote. More people will die from gun violence because of one vote. How could this happen? Didn't they hear our pleas? Didn't they see the statistics on how dangerous it is on the streets? Didn't they hear the mothers who cried for their children who died at the hand of someone with an illegal gun? And finally, what will it take to facilitate the much-needed changes in legislation that we all know to be common sense?

I made a phone call from the bus to one member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who voted against the bills that day. I spoke with someone in his office and asked why he voted against banning a tiny gadget that turns a regular gun into a machine gun. He responded that the Representative is a staunch supporter of the 2^nd Amendment. I told him they were separate issues and strongly suggested that the Senator learn the difference between the right to own guns and the right to keep all citizens of Pennsylvania safe.

And there you have the lesson I learned that day. Some gun owners are so afraid of losing their right to own guns that they can't support legislation that would prevent innocent people from dying on a regular basis. They don't understand that we are not advocating to take away their guns: We are advocating for making gun ownership safe. And that's why I went to Harrisburg on May 7^th, to try and figure out how we can change the conversation.