Milwaukee resident Stephanie Howard has a secret she’s been keeping in her closet from her 8-year-old son.
“Don’t let him see it. Don’t let him know where you put it. Don’t talk about it around him,” Howard said. “It’s something that mom knows about and that we’re safe.”
Her secret is a revolver she owns for protection.
On Aug. 22, Howard added another layer to stop her son from getting the gun – a lock box that she got for free at Evolve Church during the “Behind the Gun” event sponsored by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In total, nearly 70 gun lock boxes were given for free to people who signed up for a gun safety class.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James Causey moderated the event meant to bring residents of the city together to make it safer.
“This conversation today isn’t about taking sides and this isn’t a debate,” Causey said. “This is about bringing good people together to have honest conversation about this hard question that we need to answer. What can we all agree on that might actually save someone’s life?”
The conversation ranged from putting gun safety classes in schools to getting more parents involved, to more appropriate sentences for gun violence and encouraging others to educate themselves on gun safety.
Latrelle Johnson, a community organizer, said a problem with the response to gun violence is some people are too quick to say “put them down.”
“Some people are just not going to put them down,” Johnson said. “I think we need to re-establish why we get guns. Before you get a gun, you should have an anger management class.”
Johnson said a potential solution could be to address the emotions of the people with guns instead of the objects themselves.
“I feel like if we start talking to them in a way that, ‘Man, this gun is for your protection. And use it for your protection, don’t use it for retaliation,’” Johnson said.
Pastor Kevin Simmons was a victim of gun violence after a teenager shot him multiple times while he was driving Uber.
Simmons said parents need to be more responsible with their weapons to prevent them from being taken by kids.
“The guy (who shot me) had seven adjudications by the time he met me,” he said. “I don’t even know why he’s still on the street, but the thing is the mother knew he was taking the gun, she still was never responsible enough to lock them up. I think it’s solely on the parents. Check their bookbag when they’re walking out when school’s not going on. Why are you walking around with a bookbag? Look into it, see what’s in there and be responsible. Don’t be a person with a kid, be a parent.”
Gun store owners, advocates part of the solution
Theron Rodgers Jr. is co-owner of Prolific Arms, a Milwaukee gun store, said gun store owners should also be part of the solution.
“I need to be proactively curating spaces like this for my community so that we can talk about the problem,” Rodgers Jr. said. “We need to change our perspective and change our mindset on the way we approach these tools. And if we approach them as tools that require greater responsibility and greater accountability because they can cause death or great bodily harm.”
Rodgers Jr. said conflict resolution could help reduce the level of gun violence in the city.
“You have to know your triggers before you consider pulling the trigger. And if you don’t, you set yourself up for failure,” Rodgers Jr. said adding the shop partners with counselors who are an active part of the gun education curriculum. “They take an hour and talk to our clients, our participants about trauma and triggers and conflict resolution… all of that goes together.”
Vee Taylor-Tate, a firearms instructor and community advocate, said the stigma of gun ownership and the Black community needs to change in broader society.
“When I go to the gun range, I don’t see anybody that looks like me because the truth is we have to worry about driving there with our firearms,” Taylor-Tate said.
Taylor-Tate said gun safety needs to start at a younger age.
“Once you educate yourself, it’s now your responsibility to pass on the education,” Taylor-Tate said. “It’s all of our problems. Why? Because we all have to drive down the street. We all have to send our kids to school together. It is all of our problem.”
Milwaukee District Attorney Kent Lovern was at the event as a spectator.
“I’m inspired to see so many people from within the community looking to improve an issue that is of considerable importance to all of us everyday,” Lovern said adding more can be done to reduce gun violence. “We need everyone to be a part of understanding that we all have a stake in the safety of our community and the health of our community.”
This story was updated to add a video.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee gun advocates, community members gather to seek solutions
Reporting by Ricardo Torres, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Ricardo Torres, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
