Students showcased posters with their opinions on gun violence in America during Multicultural Day on April 10.
“Raising Gun Awareness: An Opportunity to Listen and Share” gave students the opportunity write and illustrate opinions on gun violence, and allowed open responses from any student that wished to comment.
Some posters simply expressed opinions, while others cited facts and statistics. Any poster that included facts or statistics was required to include a legitimate source. The posters were displayed on Raider Walk, where passersby were encouraged to write their opinions on any of the posters, and silently share. Each poster was unique, and many posters drew quite a few responses from students.
One student, who wished to remain anonymous, found persuasion in poster 44, regarding common sense gun laws due to the major evolution of guns since the creation of the Second Amendment.
“For the most part I have slightly resisted current gun control ideas, (knee jerk reactions), but this poster certainly moved me more in the direction of well-thought-out gun control.”
Some posters included gun laws and statistics in other countries, such as Japan and Australia. Poster number 8 pointed out the effectiveness of Australia’s gun control laws, and how they haven’t had a mass shooting since they were implemented.
Allen, a Moorpark College student, didn’t think this was a fair comparison.
“Australia has a population of about 23.8 million. The United States has a population of about 324 million. Comparing the US to Australia is apples to oranges.”
Poster number 18 was created by a student who had lost her mother to gun violence. Multiple students replied to the poster with kind and uplifting words. One student who wished to remain anonymous commended the creator of this poster for her bravery.
“I just want to thank you for your bravery in sharing your story with us, I am so very sorry for your loss,” said the student. “My hope is that sharing your story will help make it more likely that sensible gun laws will be enacted, therefore, preventing a future tragedy.”
Poster number 13 was simplistic and straight to the point. The creator expressed his/her opinion that gun ownership stops crime, rather than gun control. Ethan Hamlin, a student at Moorpark College, seemed to agree with the poster.
“Why would a criminal obey the law?” said Hamlin.
Another student who wanted to remain anonymous strongly disagreed with the poster.
“If that were the case we would have much less crime. We have the highest amount of gun violence in western developed countries and by no coincidence the most firearms,” said the student. “We should look to other countries methods if we want to reduce gun crime.”
Poster number 45 gave some suggestions on what citizens can do to fight for common sense gun laws, such as voting and trying to stop politicians from accepting NRA funding. An unnamed student shared her thoughts on the poster.
“This is not a political stance, this is simply to protect the kids and future generations, #EnoughisEnough.”
