When gun violence strikes familiar places
HAven't we all experienced that by this point?
Gun violence just over the hill
This week, just a day after a horrible mass shooting in Southern California on Lunar New Year’s Eve, there was another one just “over the hill.” Over the hill, also known as “coastside”, and more specifically Half Moon Bay. I’ve been to HMB countless times. My sister and I drove over the hill for weeks on end to work on a show at a little theatre in HMB. One of my BlogHer co-founders was living there when we first started the company. In fact, we met our first BlogHer investor for the first time in the bar of the HMB Ritz Carlton. (A typical Silicon Valley anecdote I know.) I have good friends who live or have lived there. It’s the closest place to go and still feel like you’re “getting away.” It feels close to home, in other words.
It’s not the first time such violence has come close to home, from the 2019 Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting to the 2021 workplace shooting at my own town’s transportation authority HQ/railyard. Hell, 15 years ago I landed from a (pre-onboard-WIFI) flight to the news that there had been a shooting at a company that included several former co-workers on staff, one of whom was the founder/CEO, and another of whom is a good friend I’m still in touch with, who emerged from a trip to the restroom to find panic and mayhem. (And while we’re counting up the casualties of gun violence, it’s a shame no one counts the people who are traumatized, but not injured…because the after-effects are real.)
It’s easy to feel like no progress has been made…I mean, we’ve had more mass shootings so far in 2023 than there are days that have passed. It’s not true no progress has been made. In fact Moms Demand Action/Every Town for Gun Safety have racked up some impressive policy and legislative wins at the local and state level. And the data show that strong policy at the local and state level can make a difference. That’s why (this past two weeks’ news notwithstanding) California and its aggressive policy-making has resulted in decreased (and ever-decreasing) gun violence rates.
Without national reform, however, it’s a tougher battle than it has to be. California benefits from being such a big state that for many of us crossing a border to a more lenient state isn’t a quick and easy thing. But that’s hardly the case in many other locations. That being said, we are entitled to porous borders between states, and in fact we need those open inter-state borders to be protected for, say, easier abortion access for women in states that are oppressing them. (In case you don’t realize it, travel bans for women are an actual thing some GOP politicians are saying out loud.) So, yeah, things are complicated.
It continues to boggle my mind, though, that blocking the assault weapons ban (with its demonstrated efficacy) is a hill the GOP wants to die on. Pun intended. It’s not just about NRA contributions, it’s about culture war.
And to sustain that culture war, instilling constant fear and dread is a must. So now you know the entire content brief for Fox News and the like.
What are we to do? What are we to do when every mass shooting feels like the worst Groundhog Day re-do ever? The same sides articulating the same arguments, with no progress. Well, I hate to say it, but it’s always the same: Advocate for local and state policy, yes, Moms Demand Action and Every Town are great orgs for directing the energy of the grass roots. And. Yes. Vote. And vote blue. Vote in the primaries and midterms and off year elections and special elections, not just every four years. The two parties are VERY different on this issue (check out the NRA contribution recipients a the above link for the cold, hard, facts on that). But our system is set up in such a way that until we get super majorities, not just majorities, not enough of real consequence can happen. I’d love us to change that system (hell, I’d love to eliminate the filibuster, expand the House of Representatives, give a third Senator to states over a certain size, abolish the electoral college, make DC and Puerto Rico states if they want to be, and have national default mail-in voting for every registered voter like California has been doing for years now). But until that happy day, yes, voting matters.
And speaking up. Be mouthy. Share your perspective loud and proud!
While we’re on the subject of guns, and if you’re looking for another mouthy woman to follow here on Substack might I suggest Gabrielle Blair. Maybe you heard of her recent book Ejaculate Responsibly, based on an epic Twitter thread about abortion a few years back. Maybe you’re in the ALT-Summit community. Maybe you have no idea. But if you don’t you should. Gabrielle is a Mormon mom of 6 who will defy any stereotype that description brings to mind. Her more recent newsletter about guns digs in deep and pulls no pinches, just like the Ejaculate Responsibly argument. She pulls the logic threads of arguments in a way that digs deep, makes no apologies, and therefore makes me so happy. In a way that pisses lots of people off too. But you’re way more open-minded than that, right? What do you think of her argument???
What else is going on?
My most recent episode of The Op-Ed Page podcast was all about examining the “should”s that I seem to have internalized. How I consciously rejected “girlboss” narratives but embraced melding feminism and activism with capitalism! It seemed to resonate with folks, or, let’s be honest, a lot of women of a certain age. I’d love to know if it resonates with you.
The Oscar nominations were announced, and while I haven’t seen many of the nominees, I did see the most nominated film, Everything Everywhere All At Once. And loved it. It was weird and wonderful, and oddly poignant and moving. Like any time travel or multiverse story (of which there are many lately) I try hard not to let myself get sucked into the “science” of it, or really even the internal logic of a particular work of fiction. I just let the details stream by me and focus on the emotion, and that serves me well. If you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend…what other movie can bring tears to your eyes while watching immobile rocks on a cliff.
I’ve already finished 8 books in 2023, some light and frothy (The Holiday Swap), some incredibly buzzy (Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow), one a vintage classic I should have read years ago (Kindred). I read Kindred in preparation for watching the mini-series, but I’ve since decided I need a good long break before doing so. The book is so thoughtful and thought-provoking, so vividly imagined and that imagination so fully realized…watching an adaptation is always challenging, but I’ve heard this adaptation takes quite a lot of liberties with the plot, so I think I’ll spare myself the aggravation for a few weeks. One of the most notable things about Kindred is how it was written decades ago and the modern-day segments are set in the late 70s, but it feels utterly current, which really means it is utterly timeless. If you, like me, have somehow missed reading this classic, now is a great time to rectify that!
Finally, yes, I felt inexorably drawn to buying the fastest selling book of all time, Prince Harry’s Spare…and I reviewed it on TikTok to boot:
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Until next time, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always I appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast.
If I can help you break through the things that are keeping you stuck, set up your first introductory 30-minute consult for free by booking it in my Calendly. And you can always check out my new LinkedIn Learning Course, Telling Stories That Stick, a 57-minute course on crafting your stories for different audiences (media, investors, prospects, hiring managers) and making sure those stories stick…and convey exactly what you hope to convey.