By Norma Adams-Wade
Feeling powerless is one of the worst feelings in the range of human emotions.
Repeated failures in seeking sane gun-control legislation also inspires hopelessness.
The anguish of impotence is a familiar reaction to the public’s many failed attempts to ban deadly assault weapons and stop the nation’s deluge of mass killings in public places.
But I was just thinking… We can choose hope over defeat and claim power.
Here are a dozen suggested actions to help the public take control. Choose one or several and get moving.
- Vote. Period. If more citizens, particularly us African-Americans, seriously took advantage of this one American privilege, our nation, our culture, our power as a people would be astronomical.
- Vote out those elected officials who have proven that they will not support gun-control legislation, no matter how many children are slaughtered in schools and citizens in public places. Vote them out!
- Sensible and safe gun ownership is ok. But when candidates campaign for office, demand upfront that each one clearly state their position on ending the nation’s mass shooting epidemic. Let each know that they only will gain your vote if they support ending the legislature deadlock that blocks restoring an assault weapons bans.
- Create or join a voting campaign aimed at attracting young adults ages 18 and above to swell lists of eligible voters. Convince that segment of the population that there is, indeed, power in the vote.
- During voter registration drives, concentrate even more on high school seniors and college students to strengthen the power and impact of new voters, ages 18 and above. While some high school seniors are age 17, they still are a significant force at the door of the eligible voting age of 18. They would be waiting in the wings to exercise their voting power.
- Join voter registration campaigns in your neighborhood where you go door-to-door and visit local organizations to sign up new voters. The idea may sound inane, but it worked in Atlanta, GA and other cities – led by individuals such as powerhouse Georgia political leader Stacey Abrams.
- Create or form an ongoing coalition of peaceful demonstrations and protests at state and federal legislatures that demand that elected officials support sensible and effective gun-control legislation.
- Advocate against the tax-exempt status of the National Rifle Association (NRA) that is labeled a non-profit and charitable organization. In 2020 the New York state attorney general sued the NRA claiming that some top officials had used group assets for personal gain and extravagant lifestyles. The suit was later dismissed.
- Some people suggest arming teachers in order to protect students in the classroom. I am opposed to this idea. Instead, I suggest we seek legislation to increase membership in the National Guard and add public and private schools as sites that the Guard protects.
- Lobby NRA members with convincing reasons why they should reconsider many of their open-ended, life-threatening gun-freedom stances. But be cautious. Some NRA members could be loose with their weapons.
- Support gun-control legislation that includes seeking upgraded background checks, raising the required age to buy guns from 18 to 21, banning assault weapons, activating red flag laws that require that a gun purchaser not be a threat to themselves or others, removing immunity that protects gun merchants and manufacturers from liability in cases where they sold assault weapons to persons who used the weapon in mass killings and other crimes.
- Improve the nation’s mental health services; not just talk about it. Do it!
Norma Adams-Wade, is a proud Dallas native, University of Texas at Austin journalism graduate and retired Dallas Morning News senior staff writer. She is a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists and was its first southwest regional director. She became The News’ first Black full-time reporter in 1974. norma_adams_wade@yahoo.com
Poster of revolutionary Wael Ghonim’s Part I: The old days when you and Pooky had a beef and fought it out by hand – not with gunfire. Part II: The AK-47and AR-15 high-powered combat weapons, are now legally sold to teenagers and mentally ill citizens. Part III: How the National Rifle Association (NRA) became so powerful and so deadly. TODAY: Final/Part IV: Public not powerless in stymied crusade to ban weapons of mass shootings.
