Everytown for Gun Safety: Nick Suplina
October 26th, 2023
“Gun violence in the country costs us directly and indirectly over $550 billion a year.”
Nick Suplina is Senior Vice President for Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. He was previously an advisor for New York State’s Attorney General. We discuss how 10 years of grassroots organizing has changed the political calculus on gun safety legislation, starting with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Although progress is slow 15 Republican senators did vote for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022. This was made possible because of 10 years worth of pressure from constituents. Since Sandy Hook, grassroots organizing has made a significant difference. The notion that there is no point in fighting because nothing will ever change is false. As Nick told us, “Just because we can’t get everything we want, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t act every way we can.”
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Credits:
Host: Mila Atmos
Guest: Nick Suplina
Executive Producer: Mila Atmos
Producer: Zack Travis
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Nick Suplina Transcript
Mila Atmos: [00:00:04] Welcome to Future Hindsight, a podcast that takes big ideas about civic life and democracy and turns them into action items for you and me. I'm Mila Atmos.
Gun violence is routine in America. According to CDC estimates, 120 Americans are killed with guns every day. That's a staggering number, well beyond the news of mass shootings. The good news is that a majority of Americans support policies to prevent gun violence. In a recent Fox News poll, over 80% of the respondents are FOR background checks, making the legal age 21 to buy all guns, and requiring mental health checks on all gun buyers. While the headwinds from the gun rights movement are strong, everyday people are changing the calculus for lawmakers and thus making some legislative wins possible. As it is with so many issues in our democracy, gun safety advocates are in it for the long haul, with many ups and downs along the way.
To discuss the progress that has been made and the work that still lays before us, we are joined by Nick Suplina. He's senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. He was previously an adviser for New York State's attorney general.
Welcome, Nick. Thank you for joining us.
Nick Suplina: [00:01:35] It's so great to be here. Thanks.
Mila Atmos: [00:01:37] So I feel like we should start with some context. The estimate from the CDC was for the years between 2016 and 2021. But how do gun deaths add up to 120 a day? Because when people think about gun safety, it's usually in the context of mass shootings. So how can we get a real grasp on this overall number?
Nick Suplina: [00:01:59] Yeah. Well, the unfortunate fact is that the national attention goes to mass shootings, as it of course should, because they're unconscionable and unconscionably frequent. But gun violence in America looks very different than just the ones you read about in the headlines of the newspapers. About half now of gun deaths are gun suicides. And as you know, suicide doesn't get talked about enough as it is. The fact is, is that guns as a means are what's driving the national suicide crisis. You have
domestic violence related deaths and injuries that make up the daily total. And then you have gun violence in our cities, predominantly disproportionately impacting Black and brown communities that often get overlooked. But you have a mass shooting a weekend in Chicago or Los Angeles, right? We're just not reading about them. They don't shock the conscience in the same way, but that doesn't make them any more acceptable, right?
Mila Atmos: [00:03:01] Just to be clear, a mass shooting is defined as more than four people.
Nick Suplina: [00:03:04] Well, there are different definitions for mass shootings. Most estimates today say four or more shot or killed. Other definitions have four or more killed. But the fact is, is that however you define it, there are too many gun deaths and too many instances where multiple people are injured.
Mila Atmos: [00:03:23] Well, now that we understand this, where does Everytown for Gun Safety fit in? The way I understand it, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America came together to form Everytown for Gun Safety in 2013. Why does it make sense for these organizations to join hands to end gun violence? And what is the work that you do?
Nick Suplina: [00:03:46] Well, the origin story is really important because after the tragedy at Sandy Hook, there was real federal action. There seemed like a moment that we were going to finally address some of these issues in Congress and in the Senate in particular. But the NRA did what it did. It first made the bills in front of Congress pretty unpalatable and then ultimately killed them anyway. And so we walked away with nothing. And it was a very difficult moment for gun violence prevention advocates, but also for the rest of the country, because that hopelessness sinks in and really becomes a reason to not even try. Right. You've probably heard a hundred times -- I know I have -- "if they're not going to do anything after children are killed in their elementary school, they never will." Well, the merger of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action, which was a online activist group started by Shanon Watts from her kitchen table, was really in the aftermath of that saying, you know what, we need to build a grassroots movement. We need to build in the states where the NRA has been running basically unopposed for 30 years. We need to build the infrastructure necessary to
really fight the long fight, because it's going to be a really long fight. And we did that. And so Everytown for Gun Safety, which is sort of an umbrella for the mayors groups, Moms Demand Action, an incredibly fast growing Students Demand Action chapters, over 500 across the country, and the largest survivors network in the country. We are now everywhere. We are the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country, where we operate in all 50 states, hundreds of cities. And that's where the fight every day is for change.
Mila Atmos: [00:05:36] Yeah, well, I want to zero in a little bit about the power of mayors, because Senator Feinstein just passed away. And when she was mayor, she actually passed some gun safety legislation in her town, San Francisco. And I kind of wanted to highlight this to the listener what mayors can do.
Nick Suplina: [00:05:57] You know, mayors are that first line of defense against gun violence. It's mayors that get the phone call at midnight that they have to show up to the scene of a stray bullet killing a toddler. They understand gun violence. And so mayors can help pass ordinances locally. In some states and other states, they've been robbed of that power quite intentionally. But they can pass ordinances about where guns are allowed, or who is getting a permit for a firearm. But as importantly, they are a voice. They are the eyes that see what daily gun violence looks like, and they are an important voice in state legislatures we have found, as well. And so we really value our mayors. We have, I think, over 2,000 current and former mayors in our network who speak to the issue, testify in state and federal legislatures and who themselves take actions locally to help prevent gun violence.
Mila Atmos: [00:06:57] So when we're talking about gun violence prevention policies, as you said, the mayors testify in these chambers in order to get laws passed. And you just mentioned Sandy Hook, where laws were not passed. I also said at the beginning in the intro that actually, most Americans support policies and the most popular common sense policy solutions that we hear about are background checks, extreme risk laws also known as red flag laws, assault weapons bans, and repealing shoot first laws, which are also known as stand your ground laws. So from my point of view, it sounds nearly impossible to pass gun safety legislation. Although in the wake of the Uvalde shooting in 2022, President Biden did manage to sign the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. It establishes an enhanced background check process for gun buyers
under age 21, provides federal funding to implement statewide -- so state by state -- red flag laws, disarm domestic abusers by addressing the dating partner loophole, and funds community violence intervention programs, among other items. And of course, Everytown was there at the table to help draft this bill. My question to you right now is how did you get this bill passed into law, given everything that we just discussed?
Nick Suplina: [00:08:19] Yeah, it's quite a story and it does not happen -- I want to make this totally clear -- without the ten years preceding of building power in the states. Right. Building power in states, passing red flag laws at the state level, passing background checks at the state level. All the things you mentioned have a precedent and a popularity in the states. And that's part of this strategy, right, is building that foundation. But you're also building an infrastructure of activism in the wake of Uvalde and Buffalo shootings. We had to confront that cynicism of would we once again, you know, try to move a bill in Congress... Would we be successful? We ended up driving with our partners over 10 million contacts into federal lawmakers. We heard from one senator that he was getting calls 10 to 1 in favor of the bill, which is almost the exact opposite of what the case was after Sandy Hook. We had protests. We had lobby days. We gave testimony. It was one of the most sustained 44 days, in the spring of 2022, certainly of my professional life. It was a sprint, but it was a sprint at the end of a long, much longer race, we got it done because these are popular positions. We did the unthinkable in America in 2022 or 2023, which is we got 15 Republican senators to vote for this bill, which is really saying something. Now, this bill is a compromise bill. It is actually all good, which is remarkable. I'm a policy guy. You figure there's a lot of trading that happens to get something like this done. We gave up nothing negative. We did make compromises and we know and the president knows, and our supporters and the Senate know, that this is a foothold. This is a proof that we can get things done. But it's certainly not sufficient to address the problem of gun violence in America. But it is a great start. And actually implementation of that law is one of our highest priorities right now as an organization, making sure all of the funding and executive actions that are supposed to happen under that law do happen, and happen in a manner that is as strong and as life-saving as possible.
Mila Atmos: [00:10:45] Well, so now that we are about a year after the passing of that law, everything you just said, that you made compromises. It's a foothold. You're concentrating on implementation. How is it looking? What has the effect been?
Nick Suplina: [00:10:58] The effect in the states is real. You know, there's nothing like the federal government saying we want to fund red flag laws, encouraging states that have red flag laws to implement them better. I should note that interventions like red flag laws are incredibly effective at both preventing mass shootings, but also in the area of suicide prevention. They're really designed to temporarily remove firearms from a person who poses a risk to others or themselves. And temporarily, people are in crisis and they need that intervention. But some states do it better than others and even some counties within. Some states do it better. So implementation is everything. This money makes all the difference. We've been meeting with state administrators across the country who now are like, "oh yes, we can really lean into this program." It's going to make a difference and it is making a difference. The funding for community violence intervention programs, in addition to being meaningful, also gives the federal veneer of support, right. These are locally based, community driven intervention organizations who know the communities they work in best they can intervene with the highest risk individuals. They've been proven to work, and now you've got federal money flowing, really for the first time to these programs. And cities and states are following suit, right? It's like, "oh, we can put money towards this too." So this is all incredibly meaningful. And we are in that chapter of our movement where a lot of it gets technical. I love it, though. It should be a part of government. It should be a part of the day to day business of keeping Americans safe, should be understanding these policies and fully implementing them. But things are looking good. I can't say enough that the problem of gun violence is huge and complex, and patience is a real necessity if you're organizing or advocating in this space. But, you know, this is a huge moment. I mean, the first federal legislation, meaningful federal legislation in 30 years is a big, big deal for our movement. And the policies in it are really, really strong.
Mila Atmos: [00:13:06] That's awesome. Well, talking about implementation, I have a question about like you're saying the funding is really important. How does that actually work? How does the funding make the policy come to life?
Nick Suplina: [00:13:18] So extreme risk laws are a great example. In some states, it's a tool that law enforcement can use. In others, it's law enforcement and families. And in others, it's law enforcement, families, and even school administrators or mental health or medical professionals. But the law is only as good as people knowing about it, right?
All the professionals I just mentioned, if they don't know about red flag laws, if they don't know the process, if they don't know who's a good candidate to receive one, it's not going to happen. And so the funding allows states and really require states because to get the funding -- you need to set up the infrastructure to do it -- to say, you know, we're going to do law enforcement training programs. So police officers say called out to a wellness check, you know, to an address, can say, "oh, there's firearms in the home. Maybe we want to make this application and remove these firearms until this person is has recovered or gets the social services they need," right. It's a low impact, high yield solution. That's much better, for instance, than locking folks up. The money makes that all possible and puts interest behind it. And now you can hire people to become good at training on this, and on and on and on. So that's just one example of how the money makes a difference. Of course, there are other aspects of the law that are implemented at the federal level. We have seen hundreds of examples already of that enhanced background check. You mentioned earlier, stopping sales that would not have been stopped in the prior regime. Now, the hardest thing about prevention is proving this negative, right. But I'm here to make that case that that law, who knows what those prevented sales prevented in the real world? What is the mass shooting that didn't happen? Because of that enhanced check where a person who would have been approved to buy an assault rifle instead was denied that sale, because there was something in a local file that said, "oh, actually, let's not make this happen." So it's incredibly important and hard to measure, but we are measuring it and we're seeing progress.
Mila Atmos: [00:15:30] Thank you for giving us those examples, because I think sometimes people think, what is the money really going to do? You know, what we really need to do is change hearts and minds. So sticking with red flag laws, there is a potential big wrinkle because there's a case before the Supreme Court in November. United States versus Rahimi. Mr. Rahimi was convicted of possessing a gun while subject to a domestic violence protective order, and he's challenging the law as a violation of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. How do you expect this to play out?
Nick Suplina: [00:16:04] So last year, while we were moving to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Supreme Court spoke for the first time in about 15 years in a case called New York State Rifle and Pistol Association versus Bruen. And in that
case, they announced a whole new Second Amendment right to carry firearms outside the home. But in doing so, they also created a new test. And this test was based primarily on history and in particular the history of the laws in existence at the founding,
Mila Atmos: [00:16:40] Like in the 18th century?
Nick Suplina: [00:16:41] Like like in the 18th century. The important thing to know is that the test, I mean, this is a radical opinion. I think we all know how radical the Dobbs decision was. This was a close second place. And in fact, in terms of the opinion itself, truly dangerous and unworkable. So what happened in the wake of that decision was courts across the country are now coming out different ways. A lot of the decisions that are occurring tell you more about the judge than about the facts or the law in the case. And unfortunately, the Rahimi case came up through the Fifth Circuit, which said, we looked at history and it turns out the founders didn't much care about domestic violence and therefore this law must be struck, which I hope that that feels as outrageous to you as it does to me. And so the government petitioned to the Supreme Court, and they're now hearing that case very soon. How will it come out? I can't predict, but I will say that for the Supreme Court to take a case this soon after such a blockbuster decision in Bruen, I think they have to recognize -- and they should, let me say, recognize -- that the Bruen test is just not administrable. A history only test that doesn't think about public safety sufficiently is not acceptable. And I am hopeful, and I know I will be joined by hundreds of activists outside the Supreme Court in early November when that case is heard. I hope the Supreme Court recognizes that this is just completely untenable and reverses the Fifth Circuit's case. I hope that that will happen. I'm optimistic that will happen. I think they overstepped and they know it. But it's very hard to predict these justices who seem willing to carry a lot of water for the extreme elements of this country.
Mila Atmos: [00:18:38] Well, I'm hoping with you. We're taking a short break to share about a new podcast called Obscured, and we'll be back with Nick Suplina shortly.
But first. Obscured is a podcast about critical issues that don't get much attention because they are complex, overshadowed, and happen largely out of the public eye, like the right to intellectual freedom in prison, harm reduction, and justice for the wrongfully convicted. Obscured also includes original limited series that dive deep on a hidden issue, and their inaugural series, From Words to Weapons, looks at survivors of
law enforcement trauma that will cover controversial policing tactics like stop and frisk, and supporting survivors. The show is created by Emily Previti and Stephanie Marudas, who are seasoned journalists. They speak with policy professionals, researchers, and other journalists to help you learn more about these underreported issues. It's produced by Kouvenda Media, an independent, women-led production house. You can subscribe or follow Obscured wherever you get your podcasts.
And now let's return to my conversation with Nick Suplina.
Mila Atmos: [00:19:59] I want to talk about the grassroots activism from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action. They put a lot of pressure on lawmakers about gun safety legislation. And I think many of us, when we watch the news, you know, feel powerless and hopeless when it comes to ending gun violence. And whatever progress is made seems inadequate. Even though, of course, we just discussed the bipartisan bill that was passed last year. It doesn't feel like a victory, right? And when you look outside of the US, for example, at what happened in Serbia earlier this year when there were two mass shootings two days in a row, the next day there was gun legislation proposed, and a month later it was passed. And so as an American, you feel like, why can they do it, and not us? They even had a gun amnesty period, which I thought was really interesting. You could hand in your unregistered weapons with no questions asked. But so talking about the activism here, what in your experience have you seen works best, that basically puts the most pressure on lawmakers to sign on?
Nick Suplina: [00:21:03] Well, I would definitely start with that notion. What works best is to never accept inaction. We do look at other countries, and we wish our lawmakers acted with the speed and decisiveness that we've seen in other places. But that isn't happening, and this country is a different place. So you accept that, but you do not accept inaction. Whenever I get asked a question about the political viability of a bill, or is it really going to pass the Senate? My answer is it should. If senators were reflecting their constituents, it would, as a simple matter of democracy. You mentioned some of the polls. It's an overwhelmingly popular policies that we're asking for. So that is at the heart of what the moms and students do when they show up to give testimony in a state legislative hearing. They're not walking in there, asking for permission, or being weighted by cynicism. They are demanding action. It's in their name, and they do it incredibly well. There is no stronger voice than constituents to lawmakers, especially
state lawmakers, but also at the federal level. And so these folks are hearing from, you know, the folks that they're supposed to be representing and they can't ignore them. And when they try to ignore them, they get louder. And it goes from a hearing room to a rally outside, to a protest. The fact is, is that the red shirts of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action are ubiquitous in statehouses across the country. That's our power. I mean, that is 100% our power. And it's really amazing and beautiful to see. So for folks that feel that sense of helplessness for many of our volunteers, some of whom have been directly impacted by gun violence, some of whom are just sick and tired of their elected officials doing nothing, getting engaged is really empowering. It's a community with its own force and its own reason for being. I get very excited and I shed whatever my cynicism and concerns are when I'm among the moms and the students in the seas of red shirts. We just had a huge national training program in Chicago, and it's like you carry that energy for months because you just see these folks who are tirelessly working across the country to make this happen. It really is something to see.
Mila Atmos: [00:23:25] Oh, wow, that's so inspiring. And I love that you mentioned that they shed the cynicism. I really think that one of the most dangerous things in our country right now is the level of cynicism that is pervasive all around us. You know, people are just like, "yeah, that's just not going to happen. Don't even bother." And you just can't do that. You have to just apply yourself and try it.
Nick Suplina: [00:23:45] I completely agree with you. I think one of our most formidable challenges is that cynicism. And when I mentioned earlier this, the notion, "if you're not going to do anything after Sandy hook, you never will." That is the most powerful weapon the gun lobby has, right? Spreading that idea, making that seem like common sense. Right? No point in fighting because nothing will ever change. That is as big an obstacle to motivating folks to get out there than anything else. And so yeah, the first thing that needs to go is the cynicism. And the reason to do it, though, is a. we are making progress; and wins beget wins beget wins. On top of that, we really have a duty to act. And so it's not really a choice. I was at a rally outside of the Capitol last year in the run up to the federal bill, and we had a bunch of young students there. Sweltering heat. They're waiting on this riser in front of the Capitol. And I said to one young woman, "Thank you for being here." And she's like, "do I really have a choice?" And I thought that that really captured for me the power in this movement. Young people in particular grew up in the school lockdown generation. They have had it. They're not cynical.
They're angry. And I love to see it. But they are here on a mission and we could all learn a lesson from that.
Mila Atmos: [00:25:15] Yeah, thank you for sharing that. So I just spoke about unregistered weapons being surrendered in Serbia. And one thing obviously that can easily circumvent all legislation in the US is ghost guns. The Biden administration has just passed a law that requires that all ghost guns be registered. But what are ghost guns anyway? Because I think not everybody understands that. And why are they so dangerous?
Nick Suplina: [00:25:41] So a ghost gun really describes any homemade. And I'm putting scare quotes around homemade, do-it-yourself unserialized firearm. The reason why they're an issue right now is the result of two phenomenon. One is 3D printing, which is still a technology that's emerging. Not really what's driving the ghost guns problem in this country. But, you know, stay tuned because the technology is only going to get better. The other part of it, which is hard to describe with words instead of visuals, but essentially there is a key component of a firearm that the government treats as a firearm itself. If you think about it, that makes sense, right? Because you can't regulate a gun, but then take a gun apart and now it's not regulated, right? This is like a.
Mila Atmos: [00:26:33] VIN number for your engine?
Nick Suplina: [00:26:34] Well, it is the part that is in fact serialized and it's the part that defines the firearm. So on a on a handgun, it's the frame. And on a semi-automatic rifle it's the lower receiver. Think of it as like the key part, the heart of the firearm. What manufacturers and the gun industry decided to do, to make more money and to circumvent the law, was to just leave a few holes in that not drilled. A couple parts of it uneven and unmilled. The result for a while out of the federal government was they said, "oh, I guess that isn't a firearm because it's incomplete." Which was then wrong. And the administration now has promulgated a rule clarifying that that is not right. But the result is people are ordering online these kits. It comes with all the tools and drills and things you need to finish it. And in an hour, even an untrained person can have a fully functional unserialized weapon. What this means is it's an end run around all federal and state law, unless you deal with it directly. That's what the administration has done. Also being challenged in courts, you know, winding its way through that process.
But it was really important for the administration to do this, because cities like New York have seen the number of ghost guns recovered in crime, double and double and triple every year over the last five years. Lest it be surprising, who are the folks that are buying these? It's people who can't pass a background check. It's people who want to traffic in firearms and want to build unserialized weapons. We know that there's a market in criminal networks and the like that say, "oh, you can get me a gun that can't be traced, that has no record of where it came from? Yeah, that's the gun I'm going to use in the next assault and the next homicide." So it's a huge problem. We are dealing with this problem affirmatively before it completely gets out of control. But of course, there's the gun industry. There's the the gun lobby fighting even on this because they've never met a gun regulation that is reasonable. All of it is so offensive to them. So it's a really important issue. And I'm glad that the Biden administration is tackling it.
Mila Atmos: [00:28:54] Yeah, well, I hope it works. But like as you said, it's hard to measure the thing that didn't happen. So in September, Governor Gavin Newsom in California signed a bill establishing a tax on firearms and ammunition, which basically doubles taxes on guns, adding an additional 11% to a federal tax that's between 10% and 11%. So the money raised will go to a lot of these preventive programs, like state program on violence diversion, after school programs for at risk youth, mental health services for students and teachers. And this totally reminds me of the cigarette tax in New York City and how that helped lower smoking rates. So when it comes to cigarettes, research has shown that every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by about 4% among adults and about 7% among youth. So what do you make of this firearms tax and what do you expect the effect to be?
Nick Suplina: [00:29:54] Great question and a really interesting approach. In California we really supported this bill. It's a kind of first of its kind. And so we'll have to see how effective it is. I think raising the price. The statistics you presented are hopefully we can see similar or better results. But what this bill also does is recognize, I think, a really important part of our work that is the least talked about part of gun violence, which is there's an industry that's making billions of dollars every year off of what? Our suffering. The death and destruction of our communities. Guns are the leading cause of death of children and teens in this country. And the gun manufacturers have not blinked. They keep making more and more guns, and they keep flooding the streets with them, and they keep trying to weaken laws about it. So what does a tax like this do? And it's an
excise tax, essentially. It says we're going to need to start offsetting the costs of your product. You are externalizing the costs of your product. And in fact, gun violence in the country costs us, direct and indirect, over $550 billion a year, right? When you factor in all of the taxpayer costs, the loss of income, the loss of quality of life. So somebody's got to pay for it, and it should be the industry, and that's who's getting taxed in this framework. And so I like it. I like it because it starts to offset those costs. I like it that it funds these critical programs that can help reduce gun violence. But I like it most because it helps tell the untold story that there is a business that is making decisions today that are making us less safe, and they should be connected to the problem of gun violence. And that's what this tax does.
Mila Atmos: [00:31:47] Yeah, actually, I feel like I don't even know how much do guns cost?
Nick Suplina: [00:31:52] Well they vary.
Mila Atmos: [00:31:52] There must be a pretty wide range.
Nick Suplina: [00:31:55] There's a pretty wide range.
Mila Atmos: [00:31:56] You Know, what's sort of like an entry level gun?
Nick Suplina: [00:31:59] An entry level, inexpensive handgun. It will, you know, run you $250 something in that area. You can spend as much as you want, you know, up the chain. Obviously, it's actually the lower cost handguns that really drive gun violence because they are less expensive. You know, the Glock handgun is incredibly popular, in part because it's a lower price point. And ghost guns, of course, you know, depending on how you do it, you can actually lower the price even further. So price matters in this context. And this this tax may address some of that.
Mila Atmos: [00:32:38] Yeah. Well, I mean I had no idea. $250. I mean, all things considered, that's not very expensive.
Nick Suplina: [00:32:44] And this is a commodity that if you take care of it, is forever. Right. So unlike cigarettes, where, you know, once they got you, you're coming back. Yeah.
Mila Atmos: [00:32:55] Once you consume it, you got to buy more.
Nick Suplina: [00:32:57] You know. A gun is forever. And we have more guns than people in this country. So there's a stockpile out there that, you know, we need to reconcile with. But on the front end this tax really helps, you know, address the new guns coming online.
Mila Atmos: [00:33:13] Mm hmm. Interesting. Well, I hope it works. The white House has just established a new federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention. So much good news lately in many ways, but also some bad, as we've discussed. But it will be overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris. And according to the White House website, this new office will focus on implementing executive and legislative action, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. What does that mean to you and what should success look like?
Nick Suplina: [00:33:45] This is a great moment. I was at the White House for the announcement. Two individuals that are going to go in and staff that office come from the gun violence prevention movement, really know what they're talking about. Well, we've talked about implementation. It's really important. And there's a lot of work to do with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. But generally, right, a whole of government approach. And that's why activists in the movement have wanted this office for so long, because it means waking up every day and saying to yourself, what can government do today to help this problem? What can the Department of Veterans Affairs do? What can the CDC do? There's a vast federal apparatus that isn't necessarily thinking about gun violence as part of their remit, but in fact, it is. Or there's something, there's some connection to it. And so I think with the establishment of this office, what you're really getting are knowledgeable people with a message from the president and the vice president that like, it's time to get to work, federal government. It's time to do everything we can. It's time to get creative with what the executive branch of government can do, because Congress is still a slog. And I thought the president said it really well. And it's very much our motto, too, which is along the lines of "just because we can't get
everything we want, doesn't mean we shouldn't act every way we can." And I'm here for that. That manner of thinking and this office hopefully will really make a difference.
Mila Atmos: [00:35:21] Yeah. Hear, hear. Well, here at Future Hindsight, we're always all about building our civic action toolkit. And you've just said what the President told the whole audience about gun violence prevention. And at Everytown, you believe that,"every town starts with you and it starts in your neighborhood." So what are two things an everyday person could be doing to end gun violence?
Nick Suplina: [00:35:48] Great question, I love it. Well, for starters, there's two ways to get directly involved in this fight. One is if you want to get involved locally and find a chapter, you can text "ready" to 64433 and you'll be immediately plugged in to the local chapter that is in your area. And chances are, there will be one. Relatedly, to what we were just talking about and that I didn't say much about, but there is a federal regulation that has been issued as a result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which has the opportunity to really, really close what we call the background check loophole. It will really go towards commercial sales of firearms over the internet or at gun shows. And it's a proposed rule. Right now we are driving comments. It is really important for the government to hear from you. And so at that same number 64433 you can text "checks" and you will get plugged in directly to submitting a comment in this campaign. It's happening as we speak. We've already driven over 50,000 comments in under a month. We want to get the numbers much higher, and it's really important to hear from Americans that support gun safety, because we know they'll be hearing from from the gun lobby as well. And then, you know, I don't know if that's 1 or 2 things, but what I would say is, is our theme now, just thematically, is that you can do something and admit that you can and that we can, and that progress isn't coming at the speed we want it to. But individual actions really do matter. And so understanding that gun violence is not a lost cause, but in fact just a long effort is necessary, is really important.
Mila Atmos: [00:37:33] Yeah. Well said. Thank you. So as we're closing out our conversation here today, looking into the future, what makes you hopeful?
Nick Suplina: [00:37:43] You know, I've been thinking a lot lately about the last ten years as, like a meaningful chapter in the gun violence prevention movement. I think the progress we've made over that time, the infrastructure we've built, the hundreds and
hundreds of laws we've passed at the state level, the 10 million supporters, you know, Everytown has in its cause makes me feel like we've got the infrastructure we need for the next ten years. And that makes me really hopeful. You look out at the folks that are dedicating their lives to this professionally, volunteering the students, bringing a new energy. And I think to myself, we can make a difference here. We can do this. And so where we are starting this next ten years is so much stronger than ten years ago or any time before that. And that makes me really optimistic.
Mila Atmos: [00:38:33] Yeah, there's a lot of reason to be optimistic about the future of gun safety. Thank you very much, Nick, for joining us on Future Hindsight. It was really a pleasure to have you on the show.
Nick Suplina: [00:38:44] Great to be here. Thank you so much.
Mila Atmos: [00:38:46] Nick Suplina is senior vice president for law and policy at
Everytown for Gun Safety.
Next week on Future Hindsight, we are joined by Hajar Yazdiha. She's assistant professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate at the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California. Hajar's most recent book is The Struggle for the People's King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement.
Hajar Yazdiha: [00:39:16] One of the manifestations is Black Lives Matter. And of course, the irony is that Dr. King's words, civil rights, memory through this mythology actually gets weaponized against Black Lives Matter. People will look to Black Lives Matter and say, "oh, you know what, Dr. King would not approve of your strategies. He was nonviolent. He would not shut down a highway." And of course, when we look at history, these are the very things that he and the civil rights movement did.
Mila Atmos: [00:39:38] That's next time on Future Hindsight.
Did you know we have a YouTube channel? Seriously, we do. And actually quite a lot of people listen to the show there. If that's you, Hello! If not, you'll find punchy episode clips, full interviews, and more. Subscribe at youtube.com/futurehindsight.
This episode was produced by Zack Travis and me. Until next time, stay engaged. The Democracy Group: [00:40:11] This podcast is part of the democracy Group.