From uclas school of Public Affairs. This runs an hour and a half. Understand theo deep connection that the issue of guns and gun violence has with the work of the school of Public Affairs. Is a the other focuses focus on Mental Health. Guns are the single biggest killer of women. They are the single biggest. Ause of successful suicide it turns out people may try to take their own life more often than we would like, and its a tragedy, but we are not very good at it unless there is a gun present. If there is a gun present, the possibility of fatalities skyrocket. Guns tear at the fabric of american society, but as you will hear in tonights lecture, you can argue they are written into the fabric of american their advocates and manufacturers would tell us. We will talk a bit more about that. Its also important to understand that guns are a racial issue. Puts a simply, puts succinctly, as the Second Amendment is made up for white people. As more than 100 armed men descend on the kentucky state capital, nothing happens. If 1000 armed africanamerican men descended on the kentucky state capital, i would ensure you nothing would be in the option of outcomes. Whether it is immigration, whether it is crime, incarceration, violence against women, Mental Health issues, suicide prevention, and many issues, guns are deeply connected to the work and challenges we try to address at the school. Tonights event was pulled together by my colleague brad rowe. Few faculty have a resume as diverse as brads. Brad has a degree in economics from wisconsin and a degree in Public Policy from the luskin school. Hes worked on campaigns for nonprofits, and educational advocacy, and for a time, his own consultancy with the late mark kleiman. In addition, brad has Motion Picture and television credits to his name. Brad has a particular expertise in canadas policy, and he worked with mark kleiman, a retired professor from Public Policy, both when he was here and at nyu. Brad has additional expertise in youth policy, particularly around criminal justice. Hes a lecturer in the department of pollock Public Policy, and this spring, will be teaching Public Affairs 136, canadas policy, in the spring quarter. After one of the latest Mass Shootings, and i honestly cant remember which, which says a lot about the size and scope of the problem, brad called me furious. He said, we have to do something. He said my Childs School has been locked down twice in the last 18 months. This is not how people in a just and Orderly Society live, and hes right. To take over the master of ceremonies job for the evening and to direct our festivities and discussion, i introduce you to brad rowe. [applause] brad you cant hit me like that. Thank you though. Those were my sentiments, and they are my sentiments. Thank you for saying that. Have aie noted, i do history as an actor. I can sometimes act like i dont feel a certain way. This is not one of those issues. I first of all want to acknowledge we are on the soil of ucla. We are a land grant institution. We recognize the native people as the traditional caretakers. We pay our respects to the ancestors, elders, and relatives of these people. [applause] late 2007, i took a trip to help out my sister heidi in nebraska. She was a floor manager for a cosmetic brand. 2007,cember 5 of tw when a 19yearold entered a mall, he shot and killed eight and wounded four. One of the employees was looking directly at my sister before he was shot and killed. The young man turned the gun on himself, a suicide note filled with a message of hate. He wrote, just think though. Im going to be fucking famous. I accompanied my sister as she accompanied four friends and coworkers. While not technically a victim of the shooting, the trauma left scars. Im not going to ask for a show of hands, but it is my guess that a lot of you dont have a clear recollection of the specific incident i referred to. If you are born after 1992, you get a hall pass. That is most of the students who are here. Thats ok. My point is though, and gary made the same point with my contact for him, how such a remarkable and tragic day has unfortunately become lost among the series of tragic days just like it. Some people talk about desensitize asian, but this is not normal. It is unlike anything else in the world. One of the catalysts for the event coming together, gary mentioned i reached out to him, and it was that my sons high school had gone on lockdown for the second time in three years. First included a suspect carrying a semi automatic rifle behind his high school. Had coffee with her last week, shared that they keep a portable toilet in the room. A work colleague of mine today shared that she lost two friends in the el paso shooting and she fears going to the movie theaters. People will tell you that they have been affected by gun violence. But we have to ask. I am here today wearing my Public Policy had. One of the first things we do when trying to analyze a Public Policy problem is we bring the relevant experts and stakeholders together. Thank you for being here today. We then have those stakeholders weigh in and define the issues. We task that group with proposing areas of investigation or action that can advance knowledge of the issues and solutions, and i proposed we first start out with points and goals that done advocates can agree upon. Recall anyone advocating against these. Everyone would like a reduction in death and mayhem. Liberty, everyone would like to be free from actual or perceived threats and the restrictions these dangers impose on our lives. In the pursuit of happiness. We want fewer moments and days impacted by toxic stress, ptsd, zaidi, depression, and other mental diseases exacerbated by the gunrelated death and mayhem. Today, we have brought that group of experts together, not only those that you will see on the stage, but Many Organizations and individuals represented in this audience today. I amyou here tonight, hoping we will succeed in better defining the issues, and i hope we can task this group with proposing areas of investigation or action we might pursue as a collective. The problem at first blush seems straightforward. Abnormally high numbers of people being killed and wounded at the hands of an assailant as in homicide or in their own hands as in suicide. Equally as tragic are the accidental deaths. As mark kaplan who could not be with us today noted, total gun deaths are almost 40,000 a year, and 60 of those are suicides. It would seem to me this is a Public Health problem, if not an epidemic. These numbers are in the same oallpark of deaths related t automobile accidents and opioid use. A small percentage of these deaths involve a mass shooting incident, as defined by four or more dead. It is the senseless killings of others that causes society the greatest grief and outrage and mobilization. We need only mention the names columbine or sandy hook or parkland, and it evokes the worst images of fear we have around gun violence. What seems clear is we cannot depend on the rush of adrenaline, the indignation, the to carry uswe feel through the hard work of policy reform. In preparing for this event, the speakers wanted to make sure we included a discussion on mass casualty events, but we wanted to offer more of a broader view of the issues. What we are angling to do is to share some of the collective wisdom that exists on the stage and open it up to questions with you all. We are very fortunate to have a gathering of so many brilliant and very talented groups. I do want to acknowledge the gun advocates. We need you here. We need your voices. We need your background. We need your histories. Our policymaking and pr efforts have become too antagonistic and disrespectful and not enough to put on a bumper sticker. It is not that simple. You are entitled to a voice and to be heard, and please do not be shy. If we hope to develop longlasting gun reform, it cannot be done without consideration for the legitimate claims of gun advocates. As you listen to our speaker and think about how you want to engage and consider that this can be a hopeful story, the house has earmarked 25 Million Dollars for gun research recently, which brings me to the point that state and local reform may not be as effective as federal regulation. Our keynote speaker, roxanne dunbarortiz, she hails from the state of oklahoma. She talks about in her most recent book loaded a disarming history of the second minute, she grew up in a gun culture. Wildlyeading her successful on Indigenous Peoples history of the united comments she made about the Second Amendment, she was asked if she could write a book about that, and she said yes. She includes concepts in this fetishization of amendmenthe second after the civil war. Characters like jesse james and billy kidd and the romance we had with these ideas that were missourip in the postconfederate guerrilla warfare groups. She speaks as deftly as she does about the black panthers as the emerging image of the mass shooter being a white male. The idea produced in that book will illustrate how embedded and complex the gun issue has become throughout our American History, and somehow, she makes it digestible. Wordsmith, a true dedicated researcher, and a seeker of truth, it is my honor to present to you our keynote speaker dr. Roxanne dunbar ortiz. [applause] dunbarortiz thank you, comments your enduring endearing comments. There gathered here on of on of the ancestral territory people. Ongva segarra andink dean the organizers of this event. Tommy who cant be here tonight who did so much of the work, brad and mark kaplan, and thanks to professor adam winkler and ileto for joining me in conversation following my talk. Thank you all for being here tonight and youre concerned about the troublesome crisis of gun violence. Go to the sympathies survivors of gun violence and those whose loved ones have been victims of this violence. You are always in my mind when i problem and the Second Amendment. Mentioned, essential to what informs my research talking and writing on the gun cold in lt innited states gun cu the United States is the fact that i grew up in an all white rural white nebraskan community with guns and the bible. Southern baptist. Also essential to my experience with guns, in the early 1970s, for a year, i was a member of an armed radical left group in southern louisiana. We amassed a lot of guns. We were members of outdoor and indoor gun clubs and frequented gun shows, but fortunately never had occasion to fire the weapons beyond practice, but we practiced a lot. That is to say i am intimately familiar with all kinds of handguns, rifles, ammunition, including reloading shotgun shells, and what i call gun love. A firearm slung over your shoulder or a ninemillimeter tucked under your belt create a amplified power without which you feel naked and vulnerable. Awesome, and they are beautiful objects that are addictive. Many objects may be used to kill someone, including the human hand, but only firearms are made for that explicit purpose. Love, as i of my gun call it, the 1970s, approximately 50 of the homes in the United States contained a firearm. 112 million guns and a population of 200 million. That is one or two guns per person, most of them single shot rifles or shotguns. But about half of the population owned a gun at all. Happen to not own any guns at all. Century, the1st number of guns privately owned in the United States has reached 390 million. Published, which was two years ago, it was 300 million. It is already dated in terms of how many guns, and this was within a population of 330 Million People. Is United States population a little over 4 of the worlds population or a tiny part of the worlds population, but nearly our gunrld ownership accounts for half the. Orlds guns guns, 120 one firearms for every 100 u. S. Adults, are mostly highcaliber sidearms and. Ifles, mostly semiautomatic this means each gun owner possesses an average of eight guns. Only one third of the population now owns any guns at all. 70 have no relationship with guns at all. I call these gun hoarders, people who own eight or more weapons, if they say its for selfdefense well, eight . Do you really need eight . Addicts, just as i was when i became addicted to having that sense of power. Center hasearch found that the general profile of gun owners in the United States differs substantially from the general public. Roughly three fourths of gun owners are men, and 82 are white. 61 ofogether, that is adults who own guns are white men. Men make upwhite only 32 of the u. S. Population. What are the majority of white so afraid of . They are real scaredy cats. Of gunot to make sense hoarding and the cult of the gun if we dont deal with White Nationalism. We cant deal with White Nationalism without dealing with United States history. I am an historian, and i feel this is how i can contribute to the understanding of this seemingly senseless gun. Roliferation and violence centuries of racial and economic domination by white men are integral to United States culture, views, and institutions. The ongoing influence of this history is compounded by a general lack or refusal of ofwledge and acknowledgment the three centuries of white settler colonial savage violence in seizing indigenous land across the continent and the legacy of 2. 5 centuries of legalized racial slavery, followed by another century of totalitarian control of africanamerican individuals and communities through such practices as convict leasing, legal segregation, rampant institutional racism, red lighting, police killings, mass surveillance, and mass incarceration. States was born of aggressive war. The firearms industry was the First Successful modern corporation, the brainchild of alexander hamilton. The Springfield Armory was established by the Continental Congress in 1777. Ae constitution created fiscal military state, that is a state primarily designed for war. Returning retiring as chief justice of the late maureen ebert wrote a long and impassioned plea for gun control, arguing that the Second Amendment was dated and no longer needed. Lets look at the history, he wrote. The 3. 5 Million People living in the 13 original colonies depended on wild game for food. A good many of them required firearms for their defense from marauding indians. He argued that hunting for food or killing indians were no longer necessary, so the Second Amendment should be done oh should be done away with. Is, he ishis language right about firearms being used by white settlers to kill indians and violently appropriating their land, but regarding hunting, actually the early settlers, as well as postindependent white rural settlers, primarily used domesticated cows, hogs, and chickens for food. Nearly all of their hunting was , and they mostly used trapping rather than firearms, taking the skin and leaving the carcass to rot. White settler guns use was not about hunting, nor is the Second Amendment about hunting. It never was. Were used to kill indians over a period of four centuries i. The Second Amendment mandated to the settler population that right to form their own militias and carry that out. Many guncontrol advocates many guncontrol advocates and politicians maintain that the Second Amendment is about states continuing to have their own militias, emphasizing the language of wellregulated in the Second Amendment. However, the respective state militias were already authorized by the u. S. Constitution when the amendment was added. The constitution recognized the already existing britishestablished colonial militias as state militias. Given what are now the states n guards are descended from the state militias provided for in the constitution, why would an amendment be added to call for militias . The militias referenced in the Second Amendment were voluntary and self organized settler militias, not state militias. State militias were empowered in article one, section eight, clause 15 to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion, which is pretty much what the National Guard does. Militias of the Second Amendment were related to settlers seizing , thefrom its owners indigenous nations. Of even thers heller decision idealized anglo farmers as fearing big brother government, an argument being taken up by some antiracist colonialups, but what anglo settlers considered oppressive was any restriction that colonial authorities put on them in regard to obtaining land by violence. The United States authorities, gave freeer hand, rein to settler militias as the shock troops and foot soldiers of empire. Wrote,an Charles Sellars cheap land held absolutely under the seaboard markets capitalist conception of property swelled a patriarchal honor to heroic. Imensions in Rural America the fathers authority rested on his regal title to the family land. Where european Peasant Holdings were usually encumbered with obligations to some elite, the in simple. Rmer held simple land, the augmenting feature of the patriarchal persona, sustained his honor and untrammeled will. This extraordinary independence inflated American Farmers conception of their class far above peasantry, even when they were dirt poor. Earlyook written in the joseph800s, historian doddridge, an administrator and early settler in the ohio country, wrote that on the frontier, every man was a soldier. From early in the spring to late in the fall was almost continually armed. Their work was often carried on by parties, each one of whom had his rifle and Everything Else belonging to his war address. These were deposited in some Central Place in the field. A sentinel was stationed on the onside of the fence so that the leased alarm, the whole company repaired to their arms and were ready for combat. What or who did they fear . Grizzly bears . No. The french . The british . No. It was none other than the native people they had displaced, usually very recently, attempting to recover their fields and villages or to prepare for the expansion of armed settlers. The Second Amendment thus reflects the federal governments dependence on individual armed men organizing themselves to invade and take native territories. Force was not an accidental or spontaneous project or the work of rogue characters. The violent appropriation of native land by white settlers was seen as an individual right in the Second Amendment, second only to freedom of speech. Settler militias and armed households were inscribed as settler rights for the destruction and control of native peoples, communities, and nations. With the expansion of plantation agriculture by the late 1600s, they were also used as slave patrols, forming the basis of u. S. Police culture after emancipation. Inseparable other half of the settler colonial reality that is implicit in the Second Amendment slave patrols. Organized white settler violence is what became and what became the United States began in 1607, jamestown, and continued in the violent march across the continent to the 1890s, at which time all Indigenous People were under lockdown on scattered landbased 1 on a of the former 100 of the continent. That long intergenerational struggle, violent struggle to take the land is wide descendents of those mostly anglo and scots irish settlers they are thed authentic lords of the united a kindand should govern, of blood right. Today, they make up the majority ders, thelders hor majority of the republican partys elected representatives and officials, and the majority of trumps supporters. Obviously, not all descendents, including myself, of these old settlers are of this type. Us have come of from that and turned against it and are far more militant than fightingse who is racism, White Supremacy, and gun violence. That brought these people back to power . Atay back to power because the end of world war ii, the United States social, economic, and political order was solidly and confidently a white patriarchal protestant republic dominated by corporations with investments in financial reserves, along with a massive ne thaty missing machi would soon be called the militaryindustrial complex. 1 ,ough an elite class, the of white male bankers, industrialists, and real estate giants owned most of the countrys wealth, all white people benefited and still do from what w. E. B. Dubois called the psychological wage of whiteness. The u. S. Population was 89 white in 1950. Oficanamerican descendents enslaved africans lived under jim crow in the former Confederate States and were discriminated against when they escaped the south for northern and coastal urban areas and were stock to forces like the Los Angeles Police department, resembling slave patrols. Native americans were abandoned on land basins that could not support life, forcing most to work in nearby or faraway cities, while congress legislated termination of indian status in 1953. During Harry Trumans second term as president , a red scare was launched, 1950 to 1954, usually identified with senator Joseph Mccarthy and attorney roy cohen, against alleged communists in the u. S. Government, the army, all institutions, hollywood. Context orwish of this i would say, campaign became obvious with the 1953 execution and show execution of the rosenbergs. Oficommunism and the fear foreign menace became a subtext of White Supremacy. The came the bombshell of 1954 Supreme Court decision ordering desegregation of schools, a bombshell for this white republic. The genealogy of the ascension of constitutional original is him and the rise of White Nationalists organizations begins with this Supreme Court decision to desegregate schools. It was obvious that the writing was on the wall, and White Supremacy was on the decline. Of a veryn the midst intensive Civil Rights Movement that did not just start in the 1960s, but with the founding of. E. B. Dubois. W e that is how the Supreme Court decision came about, theyre strategizing for it. The backlash quickly took form. Populist White Christian nationalism formed the basis of the ku klux klan, and anticatholicism was included in klan andy kl and the rose again in the 1960s. In bordercils formed states, labeling all policies and acts of desegregation as communist or jewishcontrolled. Society, birthed in 1958 in massachusetts by the scio ofn the welch candy fortune, produced an ideology, plan of action, and even a military arm, the minutemen. Kock industries was a Founding Member of the john birch society. They chose orange candy as the breeding ground, which once gave rise to the slogan, as orange goes, so goes the country, and hasnt it ever. While orange has become different, unfortunately. This highly public reassertion of White Supremacy and the birch societys methods of establishing activist local chapters, mainly run by conservative women from the Kitchen Table it was called the Kitchen Table strategy to take over School Boards and pta chapters across the country became a hallmark of the new right movement, coinciding with the rising visibility and politicizing of the rightwing evangelical movement opposed to roe v. Wade and the right to abortion, and of course the humiliating loss of the war in vietnam. This is also when Mass Shootings began. These were White Nationalist responses to the Great Success of the Civil Rights Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement went on to represent far more th the Puerto Rican Movement for independence, the chicano movement, especially here in california. The farmworkers movement. Which did away with termination, and many others, especially the Womens Liberation Movement and the lgbt liberation movement. In a way, the Second Amendment was a ticking time bomb. It was there. The National Rifle association was transformed during the period of white resurgence. Until 1975, the nra had not opposed gun regulation and had not talked about the Second Amendment. By the time of the 1977 nra convention, the right wing Second Amendment foundation and its lobbying arm, the Citizens Committee for the right to keep in bear arms, found it Washington State in 1974 by White Nationalists, seized leadership of the nra. It was then that the nra centered the Second Amendment as its main concern, making it into i call it the church of the Second Amendment. Actor ins the primary this coup that transformed the nra. Carter, following the career path of his father, had been a u. S. Border chief with a checkered past. As a youth he killed a fellow teenager, a mexican. He was sentenced to three years in prison, which was overturned soon after, so he did not serve any time. As a u. S. Border patrol chief, carter was the head of the mid 1950s operation went back wetback. That was the official title of the program. If violent, corrupt, racist round up and deportation of people of mexican descent, many of whom were u. S. Citizens. Theld reagans president in 1980s. He was an nra enthusiast as well as supporting the White Nationalist vietnam war movement. Reagan was the first president to speak at nra conventions. Majority of u. S. , with reverence for the constitution that sometimes seems not very healthy, accept the sanctity of the Second Amendment. Courting the 2008 supreme heller decision which ruled the Second Amendment for the first time there was a Supreme Court ruling the Second Amendment was an individual right to bear arms. Gallup asked in a poll, do you believe the Second Amendment guarantees the right to own guns or do you believe it only guarantees members of state militias such as the National Guard units the right to own guns . Agreed it was an individual right. 20 said it was not. So the cult of the gun is not limited to the hard core weaponss with dozens of population that owns guns, but the majority of population which considers the Second Amendment a secret right sacred riteght. I think the acknowledging of the key purpose of the Second Amendment is key to understanding gun culture in the United States. I agree with professor adam winkler. Hear speak soon, that it is not realistic to repeal the Second Amendment, but we can discredit it and thereby discredit the nra. Doubtl not be easy, but i that any commonsense firearm regulations can be enacted until the Second Amendment is understood to represent White Supremacy and genocide. End with this, the relationship of u. S. Militaristic culture and gun violence. Veterans, mostly from the army and marine corps, own firearms wants to become civilians. Military service is the strongest predictor of gun ownership. White nationalists also proliferate in all branches of the u. S. Military, especially the army and marine corps. Aey call their cause racial holy war, and they are preparing for it by joining the ranks of the worlds most powerful war machine, the u. S. Military. 2018, they 14, anniversary is this friday, one year, a gunman opened fire with a semi automatic ar15 rifle at the Marjory StonemanDouglas High School in the affluent miami suburb of parkland, florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. Witnesses identified nikolas cruz, a 19yearold former student at the school, as the assailant. The shooter is also from an affluent family and had been enthusiastic member of the Junior Reserve Officers training jrotc until he was expelled from the school his junior year. Jrotc uniform when he carried out the massacre and was captured without resistance a few hours later wearing the same uniform. Surviving students organized quickly and effectively, holding wellpublicized rallies calling for gun control. Three of the murdered students were, like the shooter, also members of the junior rotc. They were 15yearold peter wang, 14yearold martin to q, and 14yearold alayna patty. Peter was wearing his junior rotc uniform when he was killed. The United States army organized a military funeral for the fallen cadets and other students spoke lovingly of their jrotcates devotion to and their intentions of joining the army. Federal Program Sponsored by the United States armed forces. Unitsare over 3000 jrotc operating in every state. More than a halfmillion middle and High School Students are enrolled at any one time and practice shooting in school cafeterias. The National Rifle association moneyes the targets and for these programs. Of militarismtion for children belies the reality that u. S. Militarism is integrally related to domestic gun proliferation and violence. Thank you. [applause] doctor. You, all right, how about another round of applause for dr. Dunbarortiz. She will be signing copies of her book afterwards if you are interested. We will bring up a panel now and keep the conversation going. The first person i want to bring antihate crimes and antigun violence activist and ofounder of an award. Was aother joseph Filipino American postal worker who was tragically murdered in 1998 in a crime of hate. He was delivering mail when he encountered a member of the area nation nearby Granada Hills with a semi automatic weapon. Three children come 18 counselor, and an Office Worker were wounded while 250 children played nearby. He then encountered joseph. The shots were fatal. His family and friends were left to pick up the pieces and to honor joseph. President clinton sent these words of condolence violence in our society hurts all of us, but what you have had to endure his personal. Please welcome to the stage ishmael. [applause] all right, next on our panel, i would like to introduce adam winkler, a professor at the ucla school of law and a specialist in constitutional law, the Supreme Court, and gun policy. Gunfight right to bear arms in america. Also on the table. It is a fit tested book and a detailed account of how we got to be where we are, through the lens of the legal apparatus surrounding our constitution and its amendments. He centers the book on a case, the district of columbia versus heller, which invalidated the laws of handguns in washington, d. C. He gives the reader what feels like an intimate account of the gun rights advocates and a gun ontrol lobbyist perspective gun ownership. Please welcome to the stage uclas own adam winkler. [applause] ok, i think this is going to pick up. Can you hear me . Fantastic. Dr. Dunbarortiz miked up as well . Fantastic. What i wanted to do was start turn the would like to floor over to joseph for a moment. The panel withn the panel with lived experience and let him describe not only the very truncated account that i offered, but as he described it the continuing ways of experiences his family has gone through over the past 20 years. Thank you. Good evening. I would like to first thank the and for reaching out to me for allowing me to be part of this panel, which is very personal. It has affected our family yearly. Im also very happy to be here. Godsons and goddaughters at ucla. Ago, there20 years was a shooting at the north valley youth center. The families is back there, i believe. There they are. Washington, the state of washington came down here to the l. A. Area, drove saw there werey, armed guards at ucla, then decided to drive into the valley and focus on the north valley because it did not have armed to take him on. And shotnto the center up the whole center with 70 rounds. Wounded five people. He then drove around, carjacked an asian lady. He came upon my brother who was delivering mail on that hot summer day. To mail my brother something for him. And my brother reached out to get the mail, and he was shot nine times. He was shot twice, then my brother turned around to run away and he was shot seven more times, twice in the head. Was very shocking to our family to find out that he was gunned down in that way. Summer. Very traumatic just two months prior to this, my father passed away from a heart attack. So our family was just getting back into normal life when this happened. Becauseer was targeted hes Asian American and worked for the government. The white supremacist person was he was sending a message to wake up america, as he said when he confessed a couple days later. What drove our family to speak out was a couple things. How my brother was overlooked a lot of times in the media. He was just described as a postal worker that was gunned down. Littlehought that was a oversight of what happened. I wonder what the outcry would have been if the description of that event was a Childcare Center in north valley was shot injured. Me people were i wonder what the outcry would have been for the Jewish American community. , we becamey and i active in speaking out against hate crimes and gun violence. It has affected our family very, very much, more than you would think. Much of it going on right now. As they talk about it on the news as what happened that day, the person that got shot. Are they in the hospital, did they survive . And nothing happens. You dont hear anything about the family. Violence. Fect of such and mybeen 20 years, wife and i, we have been going across the country speaking at different universities in panels like this to bring awareness of gun violence and how it can and also,ry one of us of course, the issue of hate crimes that are tied into the use of guns and a lot a love these incidents. A lot of these incidents. About 10 years after my brother was killed, we were being honored in washington, d. C. , by program, wherel an actor told our story. There were about 3000 people there. Our son at that time was nine years old. He has been going with us to all these different universities and colleges, me telling the story, and it never dawned on him the full extent of it until he heard narrated oactor that ur story. And he basically broke down on the stage when he realized exec leawood happened to his uncle when he realized exactly what happened to the uncle. So when people ask about gun violence, how has it been 10 itrs, and 20 years now, still affects our family. You see, my sister has always been i have twin younger sisters, and one of them has a hard time dealing with the killing of my brother. So this past year, after the 20th anniversary, she could not deal with it anymore and she took her life. Thisen people say how has thing affected you or affected our family, it has been 20 years since my brother was killed, and yet our family, we lost two immediate family on this incident. And theres a lot of discussion on how to have stronger gun laws and so forth. Ive been part of a lotto forums. Ive been part of a lot of events to buy guns and melt them down, rancho cucamonga, part of the hearings on selling less bullets in l. A. City and so forth. And yet things are still happening. And its every day now. Like some but he said, it is almost so common that you oneot even say which happened last week or just today. So its going to take a lot. We heard about the history of our society, in the culture of the United States, how it goes back into the 1500s, 1400s or 1500s, and is going to take a lot. Mentionedopinion, she the orange and the white house. I think we need to replace to really make a difference in our more for a safer and humane society. Ean, we dont really need as the latino speaker said, an average of eight guns to protect yourself. I dont know, take martial arts or something. [laughter] we are glad to be part of this discussion. Panelthink more of this seems to be done in every community so that people will know or get awareness of what we are dealing with. Its a very complicated matter. I dont think we will ever get rid of the Second Amendment, and thats not what im advocating for. Everybody has a right to arm themselves and defend. Those massnk we need assault rifles to do that. We are not going to solve it overnight or within a month or within this election year, but it has to take steps in changing the thinking. And like the keynote speaker this point. Got to and im very proud to be part of this panel. Aboutow, when she talked her i got one of those letters, hate mail from that group saying, you know, we need to go back to the philippines and be responsible for my family. , in the in that letter military and the Police Departments and i should do the responsible thing. Signed by that group. She mentioned that it brought me back to the hate mail that we got. Im very happy to be part of this panel and maybe bring awareness to the importance of this issue of gun violence. We have so many issues we have to deal with. Issue of just the getting rid of some senate republicans, but anyway [laughter] im going to end with that. Thank you. [applause] adam, can you approach this from the legal approach . Can you share with the audience where we are right now in the state of california, nationally, and wiggle room what wiggle room is therefore any meaningful reform if that is the direction we are going or not going . Winkler thank you, its an honor to be part of this panel. Those comets were very moving and powerful. To talk about the legalities after your personal experience almost seems wrong. And, roxanne, and wonderful keynote. Thank you for drawing those connections between our history and guns and violence and hierarchy in america. Stand is there we Supreme Court reads the Second Amendment to protect an individual right to keep and bear arms. The court said that in 2008 for the first time in American History, but Second Amendment unambiguously protect the rights of handguns in your home for personal protection. The Supreme Court has not really said very much more than that. That you have the right to have a handgun in your home for personal protection. The court does not make clear whether you have the right to rifle inssault style your home for personal protection, and most courts have upheld restrictions on military style rifles. The court has not said whether you have the right to have a firearm with a highcapacity magazine in your home. But most courts, lower courts have upheld such laws when they have been enacted. The court has not made clear whether you are allowed to carry guns in public and under what conditions. Another major open question for the Supreme Court, but one that even in the absence of being answered by the Supreme Court is being answered in american politics very frequently. We have 40 states that have now loosened their laws over the last 30 years to allow people to carry guns on the street more often. Thee are in a space where Second Amendment has been read as the right to bear arms. Not much has been added other than that. I think many people who follow this area feel the Supreme Court is likely to step back into the Second Amendment fray and read it more expensively than it has previously, maybe even to outlaw bands on military style rifles or to outlaw bands on highcapacity magazines or to say it is a constitutional requirement for cities like los angeles to allow people to carry guns on our streets. We dont know, but the Supreme Court has taken a turn in recent years with the appointment, both of whom are likely to be strong progun, antiguncontrol votes. That is happening at the same time where megan politics seems to be moving in the other direction. Over the last few years we have seen a real reinvigoration of gun safety Reform Movement that was pretty moribund in america for quite some time. There were organizations and people were active, but it was not a high priority item on the , andratic political agenda the possibilities of reform seemed pretty few and far between. But now we see for instance every major candidate for president in the Democratic Party making gun control of their signature issues. We are likely to see it play a big issue i think in the 2020 campaign. We have this divide where american politics is moving in one direction. At least in some ways, growing gun safety Reform Movement. At the same time the Supreme Court seems to be moving the other direction, likely to expand Second Amendment rights. Thanks, adam. Wheree and ismael, historically are we with that mobilization effort . You have seen it firsthand and . Istorically where are we he is saying we are moving in the direction of more mobilization. Is that true from your experience . Dr. Dunbarortiz i think so. I see it everywhere. I have been going around everywhere the last two years since the book came out and activists whod diligently andy with each other in communities. I think one of the things when i , that iing the book was theware of, theerential between rightsl, energized gun movement and the fact that because they are organized in chapters, the nra in these chapters in the community, even if the nra disappeared as a structure, it would go on because its very local. And all the nra really does is monitor each and every legislature in the whole country, down to the county who walknd the people kids across i mean, everything. They have monitors. Then they inform the local people that this person doesnt , you know, of gun elected, or them un run someone against them. Attackedow they have congress on the republican side in the senate and local legislature all over the country. So that energy, that Community Energy that i see in oklahoma in the county where i grew up, that excitement when they are there and organizing, i was not seeing that with the guncontrol advocates. Are survivors, or have families that are. Likes this sadness, ishmael was saying, it never leaves. You never get over that. Passion that has to be there, and the local organizing, i also think we have to be that this concentration on federal laws, that would be nice. But its not very likely. Most gun laws are local and state. Thans a lot harder work lobbying in congress. Eed tures dont n dont meet yearround, sometimes they meet a month a year, you cant find them. But thats what needs to be done. I think we see more of that now. Our time check, does in q a . D does it include experience, i dont think we had moved any farther along the line since my brothers shooting and killing. Mother and wife or part of the womens march against drugs. We did all kinds of marches everywhere. We heard all the politicians say enough is enough. We heard all of the thoughts and from all you hear thats all you hear from elected officials to the survivors of gun violence. When the parkland shooting happened, im a truck driver for i was telling my partner nothing will happen. Nothing will be changed. I was so wrong. For the state of florida to change gun laws. I think thats what we will need. More involved people. At the same time, it always boils down to who is in office, who is in the senate, who is in congress, who can change these laws. We can march and marge, do these panels, all the conferences we want, and nothing will be changed, nothing will move towards a Safer Society until we change the ones that affect the law. Likes boils down to this year, election year. Whoever has relatives in other states, that we can change the makeup of the congress when we only see the change in gun laws. Otherwise, it will be the same thing over and over again. We will still have these Mass Shootings, and nothing will be done about the Mental Health effects that are part of the Mass Shootings we have in the u. S. Thats my feeling. I think we can do all the marches we want, the analysis we like the keynote speakers said, understanding how the Second Amendment came about, and changing the views of how a Second Amendment should be, or should be practiced, is the only way we will change the culture. Think the conversation gets stuck sometimes. Thisve somebody saying is my version of reasonable gun control, and some things should be brought up, bump stocks, or talking about background checks, Mental Health checks, type of weapons or bullets. Against this run strictly flip argument, which any reform is a move towards complete civilian disarmament. Fore is there room compromise in the conversation . Where do we get to the point we can actually see some change . I know we have some people working in groups that are activists here. What are some of the tools you have seen on the legal trail people can invest energy, study, research, or get involved in . Certainly, if the goal is to find something that will bring democrats and republicans together over the issue of guns, it doesnt seem like there is a law that will have a Significant Impact that will overcome the divide. Itss not a story of guns, a story of political divide. We dont find much compromise on any issue in america today. Guns certainly arent going to bring us all together. There is bipartisan reform for some kind of reform. For instance, red flag laws. Gun violence prevention orders familyaw enforcement or members can go to court and have someone who is going through a crisis have their guns removed for a short time. Thats an area where we have seen reform in both red states and blue states. Lindsey graham has proposed increase gun violence prevention orders, may be a mechanism for states to roll this out. Some of the few areas we see bipartisan agreement of some kind of reform in this area. We have also seen a lot of bipartisan agreement on reform, taking guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. Beyond that, we have not seen a lot. We dont see a lot of space for compromise. I dont think you will see more gun reform as a result of compromise. I think you will see more gun reform, if you are going to see it, when gun Safety Advocates elect more people to congress. It is one thing to marge, marching is very important, a form of political activism and, but you have to get people to vote on that issue. When enough people are voted into office, we will see gun control move. We see that at the state level today. Federal government is really stalled on issues of gun reform. We see a lot of activity at the state level in both directions. Making laws looser in some states, more restrictive in other states, like california. Its not because of compromise, it is enough Political Energy supporting the gun safety Reform Movement in those states. We are seeing a reinvigorated gun control movement. Hopefully we can overcome the sense of fatalism that nothing can change. On areas wements can find commonality or make progress . It is the chicken and the egg thing. We have to have people who support gun control elected to office. When a do you do that congressperson lives in a and they are going up against the incumbent, who is a republican . We will say out of the central valley, which i know my descendents are out there. A lot of guns. It is really a red state within a blue state. But there has been a tense and flip thosesful to seats. But when they do, they dont talk about guns. The candidate, the democratic candidate doesnt talk about guns. He will not get elected if he does. This dilemma of that divide of blue and red that is kind of intractable. It is partly politics, but also the guns. Congress, anhis overwhelming majority democratic , but it does not mean they will do gun control. It doesnt mean the senate will. Movements the social are going to be more important than candidacy to change things. We need a compromise between the two part forto move our laws stronger gun control. Areas where more are the gun loving part of this society. Im sure we can find compromise in having more common sense gun control. We will not get rid of everything, but we need to step societya more humane the masscan take out killing assault rifles out there. Need toissue that we involve everybody. A small group will not change the overall aspect of gun ownership and gun culture in america. Thank you, guys. I think we have time for two questions. Do we have microphones going around . We have a gentleman right here. I agree that much stronger gun control regulations should be enacted. One thing i agreed with you in your opening comments, you said we need to include the progun supporters in the conversation. Im thinking about mainstream not extremists but mainstream gun rights supporters. You said they needed to be included in the conversation. I was struck you didnt invite, or maybe you did, but why dont we have two of those people here tonight . Thats a really good question. Theuld put it back to school, as well, which was we wanted to have expertise to cover the areas issued. Ortizs booknd dr. And her thesis, and we would like to continue doing these events and bringing people together. We made an effort to invite people who had other opinions to join us tonight for the conversation. We would like to. And i agree we can do better. Thank you. Remember a third of the population owns guns. So i think what we really need to do is concentrate on the 70 who dont own guns, obviously they are not progun, or they would own guns. If we organize the majority, im not sure we should spend that much time, just myself, i dont think it is worth the time to try and convert them. On i think we should work the 70 . Clarify, i do agree it should be part of the conversation. I dont necessarily mean to sway whors, but to make people are gun reform advocates familiar with the reasons people do support gun ownership. Its important. Thank you for bringing that up. One person may have the microphone already. Will try and focus on making sure you can hear me without a microphone. Here we go. Thank you to all of the panelists. It is really illuminating, and we appreciate everything you have to say. I have a question for professor winkler. The gun manufacturers, we havent heard much about them tonight, and the corporate greed, and the money being made over this carnage. Hope in lawsuits and bringing this to the public through those lawsuits to try and take away the profit motive these killings . Can those lawsuits succeed . Where do we stand on this . Thats a great question. Of course, you cant understand americas relationship with guns without understanding the relationship of the Gun Companies and the role of those Gun Companies, and providing this is a consumer good to civilians and cropping up the demand for guns. We see the rise over the last 20 guns of a preference among consumers for these military style rifles. That didnt just happen. Thats a result of Marketing Campaigns and efforts to bring these weapons and make them popular in gun communities. Certainly its part of the work of the Gun Companies. Not that we would not expect that. Gun companies are making guns and marketing their goods. We have had success using lawsuits to get at some other ofustries for various kinds illegal practices. The Tobacco Companies are the best example. Largely in fear of what happened with the Tobacco Companies, that litigation led to the discovery of a lot of information about their deliberations and what they knew about the dangers of smoking. The Gun Companies pushed congress to adopt the law. The protection for lawful arms act, that really has shut down most of the lawsuits against Gun Companies trying to either bring them down, or reveal information. Tosuits are still trying open up and expose some of the exceptions in the federal law that provide that immunity. One coming out of newtown currently against remington. Lawsuits, that particular lawsuit has moved forward into the discovery phase. It has moved that far has surprised a lot of people in the community. We will see where that goes. Right now, its difficult to use lawsuits to open up these companies, either to liability, or discovery to get information about them because of these federal protections. Several candidates have promised if they are elected, they will repeal the protections. Whether they will be able to are not, thats another question. That goes back to our families at the Jewish Community center. The law they reenacted where we cannot sue u. S. Manufacturers. We can soothe the people who make seatbelts, or the tobacco families, or any other industries, but we cannot touch u. S. Gun manufacturers. So we ask how it came about. Again, it goes back to whos in congress. How did the law pass . Dont know what the law is about turning that back or repealing that, but if we get it right people, im sure can be repealed. I think thats all the time we have. Please a round of applause for our panel. Thank you to dr. Ortiz for her keynote speech. I want to thank our sponsors, women against gun violence, department of family medicine, you ca Violence Research center, the Health Equity network of the law, ucla lawa school of public development, social welfare, and Public Policy. Thank you for coming tonight. Appreciate it. American history tv on cspan3, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. Coming up this weekend, saturday at 7 00 p. M. Eastern, an interview on leadership with james baker, who served as secretary of state under george h w bush, and Ronald Reagans white house chief of staff and treasury secretary. P. M. , Eastern Connecticut State University professor Thomas Bowser ski on the close and rumored relationship between two prominent mid19th century politicians, james buchanan, elected the nations 15th president in 1856, and William Rufus king, who served briefly as Vice President under buchanans predecessor, franklin pierce. Sunday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on american artifacts, we explore Jfk Assassination records from the national archives, including iconic artifacts, such as Lee Harvey Oswalds rifle, the socalled magic bullet, and the original eight millimeter film of the assassination taken by abrahams or bruder. And at 8 00 p. M. On the presidency, a virtual tour of the Ronald Reagan president ial library in simi valley, california. Exploring the american story, watch American History tv, this weekend on cspan3. The u. S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in trump v new york monday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. The court will hear whether or not President Trump has the authority to exclude undocumented individuals leaving in the u. S. From the census abortion debate, this into the argument live at 10 00 a. M. Eastern live on cspan, on at at cspan. Org supremecourt, or on the cspan radio app. Washington post columnist george will talks about the Trump Presidency and the future of the republican party. Mr. Will is a former republican who changed his Voter Registration to unaffiliated in the first year of the trump administration. This is an hour. We are thrilled tonight to welcome back the distinguished george will, who will be in conversation with i am sorry, i am sure you have won many awards, i cannot be sure which ones