Gun Violence in Raleigh: My Experience

Guns are a normal part of life in Americaat least that is how it seems nowadays. You see a basketball player you admire, like Ja Morant, waving a gun around in a social media video, having fun, not thinking anything about itand you dont stop to think anything about it either. You become desensitized to it. Guns are like shoes, like a pullover, like a propsomething there to add to your status. Then one gets used. All of a sudden a gun is a life taker. Gun violence becomes real. The danger that guns represent strikes like a venomous snake, and all the consequences come crashing down. The fact is, guns are no laughing matter. People on both sides of the gun laws debate in this country need to step back and breathe, and we as a people need to realize that we are talking about self-restraint, limitations, accountabilitythings that matterpersonal responsibility. Guns are not props or magic wands that make lifes problems go away. They dont make you look big when you wave them around and smile for the camera. They arent anybodys ticket to a golden palace of safety and security. Guns have a very real use, and they should be used for that purpose only. Sporting around with guns out in public means we have fallen a long way as a society.

My own experience speaks to this in Raleigh. I have seen gun violence first hand. I had to run to get away when the shots rang out. I know someone who died. It was not a friend or anything, but I knew the person. I went to the funeral. No one thought about gun violence at the funeral. People instead were sad because the kid was gone, and they were sad that the ones who got...

They were sad that people were letting themselves go that way. They were sad and hurt and angry because there was so little personal accountability on the streets. Why were people acting like such inconsiderate imbeciles? That was what made everyone sad. I felt it, too.

When the shots rang out, however, I just remember feeling this need to run and get away. It wasnt anything like fear, really. There is no anxietyjust a...

…ground. That is what it felt like. I think Follman gets to that point in his bookbut you dont every really understand it until you have experienced it directly.

So what have I learned from this project? From this project, I have learned that gun violence is nothing you should ever want to be a part ofbut like it or not, it can find you just as easy as anything else. It is not just a series of isolated incidents but a reflection of bigger, worse social problema problem of what has happened to peopleto families, to schools, to neighborhoods, to the idea of being a responsible personsomeone who follows the law. Maybe it is because there is no respect for the higher law that comes from God. Maybe that is the ultimate problem. Talking about gun violence being bad is fine and all, but really there are deeper problems that no one is talking about because it means actually making changes in ones own life and being hard on oneself, and putting limitations up. People dont want limitationsI can see that. And the consequences are profound, and they range from loss of life to the psychological trauma that…