Thank you so much for attending Alta Live with trailblazer Alec Foster and Alta Journal newsletter editor Matt Haber. If you missed any part of our conversation, you can catch up right here.
Here are some notable quotes from the event:
- On talking to someone with an opposing view on gun control: “I think for myself, I think you have to lead with love. I think, as I said, it does make me tremendously angry to see the impact of gun violence on a day-to-day basis, the amount of lives lost, but I think it’s harder to galvanize when you are attacking and you are brazen. I think there is a time and place for that, but I think leading with love is the most important thing to get the ears of people and the hearts of people.”
- On what actions you can take: “Yeah, I think one, you can search out these local organizations. It doesn’t have to be Women Against Gun Violence specifically, but local organizations that have been doing the work and been in the fight for years, as they’re the ones that are the quote-unquote experts in the field. But using that to make your voice heard as well, whether that’s volunteering yourself and demonstrating when you have these organizations like March for Our Lives—you mentioned the Parkland students who started that organization—whether that’s demonstrating and marching with organizations like them, whether that’s donating to these causes, that’s talking to your inner circle, your friends, your community, your family about safe gun storage and locking up their guns. Whether that’s reaching out to your local legislators and your state senators when legislation is up for vote, encouraging them to vote on lifesaving gun legislation.”
- On staying hopeful: “It is hard, I believe, at times, to stay hopeful when it feels like we have taken some steps back. But you can point to small victories of progress. As I briefly mentioned, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was one instance where we got people across party lines to agree on federal gun legislation for the first time in nearly three decades. So that in itself is progress, but much more needs to be done. But I think you can look at those types of things as small wins and reasons to be hopeful. And I think the new wave of younger politicians who care about gun violence as the number-one issue for them, I think you can look at this younger generation as an instance to be hopeful.”
Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.
- Read “Trailblazer: Alec Foster,” by Jessica Klein.
- Learn more about Women Against Gun Violence.
- Read about Women Against Gun Violence’s Divest for Our Lives program.
- Listen to Alec Foster on the Bullet Points podcast.
- Learn about other anti–gun violence organizations, including March for Our Lives and Moms Demand Action.
- Understand the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed in June 2022.
- Check out Alta’s Desert Issue.
- Join us for a party and a toast celebrating the Desert Issue on February 27 at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.•
