WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.169 [ MUSIC ] Guns have always been a part of my 2 00:00:04.189 --> 00:00:07.229 life. A lot of people don't understand how firearms 3 00:00:07.229 --> 00:00:09.929 work. I hate that I think so much about this. [ MUSIC ] 4 00:00:10.799 --> 00:00:13.524 We compartmentalize until it affects you Personally. 5 00:00:13.524 --> 00:00:21.089 [ MUSIC ] 6 00:00:21.089 --> 00:00:23.799 My safety concerns also matter, and they are being 7 00:00:23.799 --> 00:00:32.899 taken away from me. [ MUSIC ] 8 00:00:32.899 --> 00:00:36.226 If you want people to listen, you can't offend them. I 9 00:00:36.226 --> 00:00:43.852 was kind of upset with the whole thing. [ MUSIC ] 10 00:00:43.852 --> 00:00:49.726 [ APPLAUSE ] 11 00:00:49.726 --> 00:00:55.599 [ NOISE ] 12 00:00:55.599 --> 00:00:58.629 After Parkland we knew that we had plenty effects, 13 00:00:59.199 --> 00:01:02.429 what we were craving was a chance to dig in for 14 00:01:02.429 --> 00:01:04.589 people to talk to one another about where the facts 15 00:01:04.589 --> 00:01:08.449 weren't enough. As citizens in a democracy, we learnt 16 00:01:08.449 --> 00:01:10.869 that we can play a role by voting, we learnt that we can 17 00:01:10.869 --> 00:01:13.519 play a role perhaps by running for office, but we never 18 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:16.339 really learn, how can we play a role by engaging with 19 00:01:16.339 --> 00:01:19.359 other people who think differently than This is a 20 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.909 moment in history when our country is trying to have 21 00:01:23.429 --> 00:01:25.329 one of the most difficult conversations. It's a 22 00:01:25.329 --> 00:01:27.549 conversation we've been having for three, four 23 00:01:27.549 --> 00:01:32.079 hundred years. We've brought together people from 24 00:01:32.189 --> 00:01:36.379 all sides of the conversation around guns in America to 25 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:39.109 see if by giving them an opportunity to meet each 26 00:01:39.109 --> 00:01:42.189 other and build trust They might begin a new 27 00:01:42.189 --> 00:01:45.169 conversation in America about guns and their role in 28 00:01:45.169 --> 00:01:47.562 our 29 00:01:47.562 --> 00:01:49.956 community. 30 00:01:49.956 --> 00:01:52.349 [ MUSIC ] 31 00:01:52.349 --> 00:01:56.159 I came to this issue because when I was a Junior in high 32 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:59.549 school, one of my classmates came to highschool with 33 00:01:59.549 --> 00:02:03.599 a gun And shot my history teacher and 34 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:09.189 killed him and shot two of my friends. I have two 35 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:11.339 teenage daughters who are in high school, who are 36 00:02:11.339 --> 00:02:14.859 texting me. We're in a lockdown drill. Everyone else 37 00:02:14.859 --> 00:02:17.459 was given a baseball bat, but I only got a golf club. 38 00:02:17.459 --> 00:02:21.949 What should I do? And it infuriated 39 00:02:21.969 --> 00:02:25.249 me that here we are again and my kids are now 40 00:02:27.399 --> 00:02:31.429 terrorized. Do you feel 41 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:34.889 safe that you have a gun? I sleep with my handgun on 42 00:02:34.889 --> 00:02:35.959 my nightstand and that does make me feel safe. I'm 43 00:02:35.959 --> 00:02:40.139 just saying say you're in the house 44 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:41.097 sleep, they'll get your weapon first. You need my 45 00:02:41.097 --> 00:02:43.769 fingerprint. It opens, two seconds. Right? It's in the lock 46 00:02:43.839 --> 00:02:45.269 box. It's in the lock box. Alright. [ CROSSTALK ] Yeah. 47 00:02:45.269 --> 00:02:51.229 That's what I was saying. That can go very fast. I 48 00:02:53.739 --> 00:02:56.579 was raised by my Grandmother. She's had a heck of a 49 00:02:56.579 --> 00:02:59.829 life. She was always the victim. I was like okay, I guess 50 00:02:59.849 --> 00:03:02.619 now that's going to be me. Of these laws, of this gun 51 00:03:02.619 --> 00:03:05.929 controls also apply to people like me. And I am just 52 00:03:05.929 --> 00:03:08.289 that girl living by herself in the middle of a big city. 53 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:13.989 Today I felt first time that I got to know someone who 54 00:03:14.569 --> 00:03:18.709 thinks very differently. I go, okay, I'm having a real 55 00:03:18.709 --> 00:03:21.339 conversation with a dues- paying NRA member. And I 56 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:24.289 like them. I'm born and raised on the South side of 57 00:03:24.289 --> 00:03:27.339 Chicago in the Englewood community. Groing up in my 58 00:03:27.339 --> 00:03:31.304 community, I saw a lot of gun violence. At the end of 59 00:03:31.304 --> 00:03:33.119 the day when the conversation came to an end, 60 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:38.039 everybody had the same common theme. It needs to 61 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:42.789 be safety. [ MUSIC ] It's 62 00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:46.969 been almost three months since we were in DC. It was 63 00:03:47.169 --> 00:03:50.519 so exhilarating. I was very optimistic that we were 64 00:03:50.519 --> 00:03:52.879 gonna change the world when we left DC. I thought, 65 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:55.819 this was it, man. The 20 of us, we're gonna go on tour 66 00:03:55.819 --> 00:03:57.509 and we're gonna have these conversations all over the 67 00:03:57.509 --> 00:03:59.879 country, and we're gonna get everybody to do what 68 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:02.089 we're doing and come together. And then we got on 69 00:04:02.089 --> 00:04:07.429 Facebook. [ MUSIC ] 70 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:10.719 I actually left DC not knowing exactly where everyone 71 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:14.621 stood. We spent more time getting to know each other 72 00:04:14.622 --> 00:04:18.779 Than we spent time discussing gun issues per se. 73 00:04:19.369 --> 00:04:23.129 The Facebook groups was different. We brought 74 00:04:23.169 --> 00:04:26.289 people to DC to have a productive and meaningful 75 00:04:26.349 --> 00:04:30.009 encounter there. But also for them to have experience 76 00:04:30.009 --> 00:04:33.299 and tools when we brought them into a closed 77 00:04:33.339 --> 00:04:36.369 Facebook group. Could we help people remember this 78 00:04:36.369 --> 00:04:49.129 experience, and then go out and share 79 00:04:49.609 --> 00:05:01.179 it? [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] 80 00:05:01.179 --> 00:05:03.839 At first it was overwhelming. I think I wasn't the only 81 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:05.919 one that had to sort of step back. Because you had 82 00:05:05.919 --> 00:05:09.464 these 130 people that were super excited to be part 83 00:05:09.464 --> 00:05:13.229 of this. And they were like, rah, a mile a minute. I was 84 00:05:13.229 --> 00:05:15.469 tagged in all of these different posts and I'm trying to 85 00:05:15.799 --> 00:05:17.299 work on this one and then [ MUSIC ] And someone else 86 00:05:17.299 --> 00:05:19.019 said something. And then we had a couple of people 87 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:23.069 that came in that were a little aggressive. Those of us 88 00:05:23.069 --> 00:05:24.869 that were in DC were trying to chime in with some 89 00:05:24.869 --> 00:05:29.519 basic rules of edicate that 90 00:05:29.909 --> 00:05:32.429 a lot of people really tried to follow. A frantic search is 91 00:05:32.429 --> 00:05:35.257 intensifying for a gunman who killed four people at a 92 00:05:35.257 --> 00:05:37.729 Nashville area Waffle House [ UNKNOWN ]. During the 93 00:05:37.729 --> 00:05:41.289 time that were in our Facebook discussion. There were 94 00:05:41.599 --> 00:05:45.019 additional mass shootings that of course we all needed 95 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:47.759 to discuss. Even in that group as we we're trying so 96 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:50.759 hard, when things like that happen, people would put 97 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.689 their stakes in the sand and say this is again why I feel 98 00:05:53.689 --> 00:05:57.389 this or this is again why I feel this and it would divide 99 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:01.519 us. [ MUSIC ] I was soldier in the United States 100 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.314 Army for 20 years and I spent 20 years as a police 101 00:06:04.314 --> 00:06:07.749 officer and just retired last year. So my relationship 102 00:06:07.749 --> 00:06:10.939 with guns is they have been a tool for me for virtually 103 00:06:11.024 --> 00:06:15.799 my entire life. That's a 229 357 Magnum. Guns 104 00:06:15.799 --> 00:06:18.379 are a tool like everything else. But they're not your 105 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:20.411 most important tool. You most important tool is your 106 00:06:20.411 --> 00:06:23.829 brain and your mouth. I was very frustrated with the 107 00:06:23.829 --> 00:06:26.374 way it seemed like the group had digressed and so I 108 00:06:26.374 --> 00:06:31.656 was thinking about leaving the group. [ MUSIC ] 109 00:06:31.656 --> 00:06:35.637 [ MUSIC ] 110 00:06:35.637 --> 00:06:39.619 Some 111 00:06:39.619 --> 00:06:44.679 of it got kind of ugly. So 112 00:06:44.679 --> 00:06:48.109 John Godfrey reached out to me via Messenger and 113 00:06:48.109 --> 00:06:51.169 said, all right, I have an idea because I see you really 114 00:06:51.169 --> 00:06:54.999 trying to meet in the middle and I'm really trying. We 115 00:06:54.999 --> 00:06:58.639 kind of staged it to say Were posted at this time. We'll 116 00:06:59.109 --> 00:07:02.249 see how the dialogue goes and if you get attacked, I'll 117 00:07:02.249 --> 00:07:05.859 stand up for you and I'll speak out to the second 118 00:07:05.859 --> 00:07:09.019 amendment folks to say, let her make her point. If we 119 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:12.354 can start the conversation and show everyone else in 120 00:07:12.354 --> 00:07:16.099 this group how to do this, how it's possible to have a 121 00:07:16.099 --> 00:07:19.134 sane, kind conversation about a really difficult issue. 122 00:07:19.134 --> 00:07:23.279 [ BLANK_AUDIO ] 123 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.589 Even though we fundamentally disagreed, we were 124 00:07:25.589 --> 00:07:28.329 able to find some, that little bit of Venn Diagram again, 125 00:07:28.369 --> 00:07:30.599 say, hey wait wait wait, are are agreeing? Are we 126 00:07:31.389 --> 00:07:39.419 agreeing? You know? [ MUSIC ] 127 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:45.309 Hey. 128 00:07:46.489 --> 00:07:51.089 Hey. How've you been? I'm good. How are you? I'm 129 00:07:51.089 --> 00:07:53.489 fine. Just sitting over here trying to solve all the 130 00:07:53.489 --> 00:07:56.559 problems in the world, you know. I'm hopeful as we 131 00:07:56.559 --> 00:07:58.579 move in to things like red flags laws, and that's what 132 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:02.589 Dan and I can agree on a lot of stuff. There is a 133 00:08:02.589 --> 00:08:04.546 level of due process that's gonna be acceptable to 134 00:08:04.546 --> 00:08:08.719 everybody. We just haven't reached that point. 135 00:08:09.729 --> 00:08:14.219 One of the many frustrating things was they're asking 136 00:08:14.969 --> 00:08:19.129 me to compromise. My question back is, what 137 00:08:19.289 --> 00:08:23.184 are you willing to give up on to get my support. As 138 00:08:23.184 --> 00:08:28.839 soon as I ask for something it 139 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:29.465 shuts down discussion. And I did question you at some 140 00:08:29.465 --> 00:08:29.659 point in that group about why you went to D. C. 141 00:08:29.659 --> 00:08:35.514 because you 142 00:08:35.514 --> 00:08:39.195 don't seem to have any interest in really changing your 143 00:08:39.195 --> 00:08:40.009 view, nor should you. But I was curious about how 144 00:08:40.009 --> 00:08:44.062 much you were taking in 145 00:08:44.062 --> 00:08:47.337 [ MUSIC ] From those of us that feel differently, and 146 00:08:47.337 --> 00:08:51.613 considering it. Seriously considering where we were 147 00:08:51.613 --> 00:08:55.609 coming from. [ MUSIC ] And it's really kinda funny, 148 00:08:55.609 --> 00:08:58.229 because one of the questions I had today was, would 149 00:08:58.229 --> 00:09:02.139 you go back to DC? And I said, absolutely, because I 150 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:07.139 don't actually have an opportunity to talk to people. In 151 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:12.144 a way that we were able to talk in DC, okay? What 152 00:09:12.144 --> 00:09:15.089 I see from Moms Demand Action is what's sitting 153 00:09:15.349 --> 00:09:18.789 across the table when I'm talking to legislators, okay? 154 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.934 And that is definitely different than you 155 00:09:24.934 --> 00:09:30.039 and I sitting around Talking or [ INAUDIBLE ] A 156 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:32.959 wild hope is suddenly, there would be grand 157 00:09:32.959 --> 00:09:35.869 consensis. But that really wasn't what we expected to 158 00:09:35.869 --> 00:09:40.039 happen. At the end I think there was transformation, 159 00:09:41.079 --> 00:09:43.819 that understanding that, wow, if we can go deeply 160 00:09:43.819 --> 00:09:46.439 enough we can hear people at a whole different level. 161 00:09:46.969 --> 00:09:49.379 Do I wish it could have happened to everyone? Yes, 162 00:09:49.729 --> 00:10:04.319 completely. But it didn't. And that also has to be 163 00:10:05.359 --> 00:10:17.179 it. [ MUSIC ] 164 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:19.699 [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ] Society rush through things, 165 00:10:19.819 --> 00:10:23.689 and your's truly is guilty as anybody. And that's what 166 00:10:23.689 --> 00:10:27.809 the group did to me It said reflect, focus, go back, 167 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:30.879 reset. I think we need to call a big reset in the country 168 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:31.999 sometimes. [ MUSIC ]