Be Part of the Change
Zoe Scrivener, Gun Violence Prevention Intern
Photo credit: Scott Marrese-Wheeler
On October 10th I, along with Rev. Scott Marrese-Wheeler and Rev. Jeff Wild of Guns to Gardens Wisconsin, attended the Emergency Gun Violence Summit hosted by the 80% Coalition in Milwaukee. It was a long and taxing day of reviewing statistics, witnessing stories, and hearing from state leaders – but ultimately, there was a resounding message of hope and optimism in our country and our communities that we can “be the change.”
The 80% Coalition is a Milwaukee-based group formed to urge legislators to pass gun safety legislation. The “80%” in its name is derived from a 2019 Marquette University Law School poll which showed that 80% of Wisconsin voters want background checks on all guns. If this statistic is true, you and I alike must be asking, how have such laws not been passed yet? How are we still where we were then, five years ago? Why do our neighbors, our families, our own minds and bodies – have to suffer at the hands of laws that most Wisconsinites disagree with?
It was difficult to hear facts like that one without feeling an overwhelming sense of frustration, coupled with the heartache of listening to victims of gun violence bravely sharing their grief with a room full of strangers. I listened, I wept, and most of all I remembered where they found that bravery: it is because of hope. The kind of hope that was present in that room is found not from just wishing and praying that things will change, but also from speaking up and putting those words into action. We do not have time to spare when gun violence takes more than 125 American lives every day. We must believe that we have the power to change our laws, to change our nation’s attitudes towards guns.
In my role as an advocate against gun violence, I remember God’s message to Judah: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).
I encourage you to reach out to me if you feel that your church can be a part of the change that I know can happen here in Wisconsin. I am here to listen and to hope.
