I Despise American Gun Culture, Too

Some folks have raised concerns about my old social media posts involving firearms. I’ve always been happy to respond to concerns from people about any issue, and especially this issue.

Making the rounds is a 6-year-old image of me holding a gun wearing long johns. The photo was taken by my partner who thought I looked odd holding the weapon after I cleaned it.

When it was first posted, my social media was for me and my close friends who know I despise American gun culture and the toxic masculinity it involved, and that I am an extremely nonviolent person. Now that my social media is more public facing, it is correct that posing with weapons sends the wrong message to the general public who doesn’t know me.

But I didn’t want to delete my social media posts before the election because I felt it would be dishonest.

I grew up occasionally going to the shooting range with family members, but never wanted to own firearms myself. It wasn’t until I faced extreme threats to myself, my partner, and my family by far-right white nationalist types for my public activism in anti-racist, anti-Trump, indigenous solidarity, and other spaces. These threats were so extreme and credible, and from people with extreme weaponry, that my partner and I made the difficult decision to own and train with firearms. As terrified people in our early 20s, we didn’t know what else to do.

I despise the racist and reactionary NRA and gun culture as a whole in the United States. While many gun owners glorify weapons and fantasize about using them, being forced to harm any person (or even animal) is my biggest fear.

Being a gun owner as well as someone who holds my views — left-wing and vehemently anti-racist, pro-LGBTQ and anti-bigotry in general — I’m am in a unique position to help people in marginalized communities who have face threats similar to those made to me and have made the difficult decision to purchase firearms. I have not and am not encouraging anyone to buy firearms, but I am frequently reached out to by people in these communities to teach the basics about gun safety, and make sure they have the proper basic education to avoid unsafe gun ownership practices. I will always do this for free and ask for nothing in return.

I own a gun safe, and intentionally purchased one much bigger than I need, so I can help safely store firearms of community members who, for one reason or another, need a place to store them: friends who had children, friends who were having visitors, or people who owned guns but didn’t feel safe around them because their mental health was deteriorating or they were in crisis. One community member told me they weren’t sure what would have happened if we hadn’t been there as a trusted place to store a firearm, because their depression was so bad.

Normally American gun culture is self-centered and individualistic; my approach is that of community. We sadly live in a country with many more guns than people, and with our current leaders, it will stay that way for the foreseeable future. I think we can avoid harm by strengthening our community networks and engaging in this type of gun violence intervention.

If those who are combing a decade through my social media and intentionally showing images without context would have reached out to me with their concerns, they would know that the way they are trying to portray me is patently false and extremely dishonest.

I’m always happy to answer questions or talk, and I love talking with people and meeting with literally anyone. Don’t hesitate to email, call or text. My contact information is below.