(upbeat music) (camera lens whirring and beeping) (transition whooshing) (upbeat music) - I'm Fred Martino.

In focus today, gun safety.

Up front, we meet two women with very different views about guns, but both advocate for gun safety.

One is a college student who was injured running away from gunshots, the other, a member of the Illinois State Rifle Association and National Rifle Association, she looked to guns to protect herself after feeling threatened by a family member.

We meet them both in this documentary by Southern Illinois University Carbondale student, Kaylee #*.

- My name is Taylor Lawrence, I'm currently a senior at SIU Carbondale, and I have been affected by gun violence.

(pensive music) Gun violence has played a big part in my life because I lost two friends due to gun violence.

One in 2019 and another in 2021.

They were both young, so losing friends to gun violence when they had nothing to do with the shooting was something that impacted me because their life ended for no reason.

(pensive music continues) - Okay, I'm Valinda Rowe, and I am the spokesperson for IllinoisCarry.com, which is a not-for-profit, all-volunteer, Second Amendment advocacy group and activist group.

And our goal is to educate the people of Illinois about our firearm laws and help advance the right to carry for self-defense.

Okay, what drew me into this movement at IllinoisCarry.com is that my husband and I were targeted by a mentally ill family member for a number of years.

It was a really scary time for us.

And we wanted the means to be able to protect ourselves when we were away from home.

And in the state of Illinois, that was prohibited.

And so we decided to gather together with other people who supported the right to be able to protect yourself when you leave your home, and found this group, IllinoisCarry.com, and joined up with those individuals.

And that was probably back in, this was about 2004.

- I remember looking to my best friend, like, "Why is everybody running?

Oh my God, does somebody have a gun?"

And as soon as I said that, all I hear is four shots.

And the four shots were quick in reality, but it was just like, it was the longest period, the longest four shots ever.

It seemed like it was just so long.

So the first thing we wanted to do was duck and run.

So me and my best friend, we literally grabbed each other, and as we were running, we fell hard on the ground in the concrete parking lot, in between Traxx and the Dairy Queen, I believe, that's now closing.

And it took us a minute to get back up because we both thought we both got hit.

I thought she got hit and she thought I got hit, but we just fell.

I instantly called my mom, I instantly started crying.

It was just terrifying, because we thought we were going to die.

We legit thought, "Okay, is somebody just shooting just to shoot?

Is he aiming towards somebody?"

(pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) - I am a member of the Illinois State Rifle Association.

I'm also a member of the NRA, which is the National Rifle Association.

And I believe it's important to support the Second Amendment groups that are fighting for our rights on a state and national level.

I think it's important to support the groups that have lobbyists in Springfield and in Washington DC advocating for our rights and who also help support the education of firearm owners in the state.

(pensive music continues) If you are a gun owner, gun safety is everything.

It is a huge responsibility, it has to be taken very seriously.

My husband and I are both firearms instructors, and the very first thing we do in any event that we participate in, any class that we teach, it's the basic rules of firearm safety and how to always treat a firearm as if it's loaded.

So if you learn the firearm safety rules and you practice those rules, you put them into play, then you will never, ever, ever accidentally hurt yourself or somebody else with a firearm.

If you are going to be a firearm owner, then you have to be responsible and know those firearm safety rules, practice those rules, and also the rules of making sure that your firearm does not fall into the hands of an unauthorized person.

You've got to maintain control of your firearms and you have to be safe when you're handling them.

There are so many ways today to store your firearm safely so that they don't fall into hands of an unauthorized person.

There are all kinds of gun safes and storage possibilities that you can secure, say you have a handgun in your home for defense, you can have it loaded and ready to go in a gun safe that all you have to do is lay your hand on it and it will scan your fingerprints, and only your fingerprints will open that gun safe.

And have it ready or have it on you so that you have direct control of that firearm.

So there's a lot of different ways to implement that in your home, in your vehicle, on your person.

And so I think it is very important that gun owners research and study those options so that they know how to maintain control of their firearm.

- There's kids shooting themselves on accident because they're finding a gun in the house and they shoot themselves, and that's not okay.

The gun should be away in hiding to where the kid doesn't know where it's at.

It should be probably in a closet, in a safe somewhere, somewhere to where the kid doesn't have access to it, for sure.

- We teach the Illinois Conceal Carry course.

At Illinois Carry, we have a curriculum that instructors can use.

Throughout the state right now, I think there's about 500 instructors throughout the state of Illinois that use our curriculum, so that all of the laws are taught, so that when you get your carry license, you're very informed about where and when you can carry your firearm, where and when -+-you can legally use your firearm for self-defense, or defense of someone else, or your home, or your property.

And so I think it just behooves a firearm owner, know your laws and adhere to those laws.

- The next day, woke up in horrible pain.

I could not walk on my knee or with my leg.

It was hard to get up to even just use the restroom, go get food from the dining hall.

So I went to the doctor and she told me that I had soft tissue damage in my knee, and I was on crutches for like a week.

And I did not really go out for like another two weeks, two weeks and a half.

But it really impacted the way I viewed going out with my friends, or the weekends.

- Having been targeted by a mentally ill family member for years, I feel like I have been a victim in that.

It leaves you with thoughts and feelings that you wouldn't have if you hadn't been targeted.

My husband and I both, fortunately, we never had to use our firearm in defense of ourselves, but it was there if we needed, because we knew the other individual did have firearms as well.

(pensive music continues) When I talk to someone who has been a victim, I assure them that it is an awful thing to suffer being a victim.

But I want them to know that punishing or restricting the people who did not commit that violence is not the answer.

And so even though they have emotional scars and maybe physical scars from being a victim, that we need to address the problem where it lies, and that's with the people who are committing the violence.

(pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) - In the moment, it was just like, I literally thought we were gonna die, because you don't know where the shots are coming from, you don't know who's shooting, you see everybody running, everywhere, not just in one direction.

So it's just like, it could be anybody.

It could be somebody running towards you the opposite direction.

Just the main thing we wanted to do in that moment was run.

There are so many people that have guns that aren't registered or licensed, but I think the first step is to make sure whoever has a gun is licensed and registered.

You never think that's gonna happen to you.

You see it on the news all the time, and then when it happens to you, it's just surreal, like, "This is life."

(pensive music continues) - I think what we have to do to reduce crime, violent crime, is we have to address those who are perpetrating the violent crime.

And that's violent criminals and that's the mentally ill who are dangerous to themselves and others.

So we've got to have stricter penalties for the illegal use or violence committed with a firearm.

We have to address the people who are committing the violence.

(pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) (pensive music continues) - There's kids dying, there's people dying that should not be dying.

There's people that should just go to work and be able to come back home.

There's people that should just go to school and come back home.

And it's just to the point to where you don't know if you're coming home or not, and it's enough.

We have gotten to the point to where enough is enough and something needs to change.

It was just a real surreal moment for us to have.

It was like a reality check.

We see this on the news all the time.

This could happen to anyone at any time, no matter who you are, where you're at.

This is America.

(pensive music continues) - What will you do about gun safety?

It's a question that's been asked nationwide for many years, and Illinois legislators answered with some of the strongest firearm laws in the nation, including gun licensing requirements and universal background checks.

Joining us for the rest of the program, Yolanda Androzzo.

She is the executive director of One Aim Illinois, a group that advocates for gun safety.

Yolanda, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you, Fred, for having me as a guest on your show.

- It's wonderful to have you here.

A lot of important things to talk about.

Illinois has been a leader in gun safety legislation.

In your view, Yolanda, what still needs to be accomplished?

- Well, yes, we have had some huge legislative successes over the last recent years, which we can get into a little bit later.

But as far as legislation moving forward, as we look into 2024, we are really focused on five priorities.

And the first being improving the firearm remedy for the Domestic Violence Act, which means clarifying and strengthening the law, so important, to require a firearm to be removed from a home when a domestic violence survivor is granted an order of protection with the firearm remedy.

And the risk of intimate partner homicide increases 500% when abusers have access to a gun.

And leaving a domestic violence relationship is a period of high risk.

We actually just launched a domestic violence advocacy campaign with the network GPAC Illinois, legislators and other advocacy partners for this very reason.

And as you know, with it being Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the legislator going into veto session in just a couple of weeks, we are working very hard right now to close that loophole that would otherwise allow transfer of firearm ownership instead of removal per relevant order of protection.

And that is really our big focus for the next couple of weeks.

Other priorities include expanding the firearm restraining order, safe gun storage, community violence intervention and curbing gun trafficking.

At One Aim, we know and we recognize there are communities who bear the heaviest burden of gun violence, and those are Black and brown communities, Black residents, just some of the statistics your viewers may or may not know is that Black residents are 37 times more likely to die from gun homicide than our white residents.

And despite the fact that Black boys and men account for just 6% of the total population, they compose more than half of all gun homicide victims.

And that's alarming and it's absolutely tragic.

And really it's the direct result of a lack of investment in Black and brown communities.

We also can't forget about the Latino and LGBTQA+ communities who are also impacted disproportionately.

Guns are responsible for nearly 75% of homicide deaths nationwide, where the victim is Hispanic Latinx.

And homicide is the leading cause of death per Latinx people aged 15 to 24.

Actually since January of 2017, guns have been used in 70% of homicides of transgender individuals in the United States.

So our commitment to end gun violence means not only addressing those common-sense gun laws, but also working with our community partners to address the root causes of gun violence in these communities.

And it's about providing those who are most impacted with housing, healthcare, education, transportation, food, employment, trauma-informed services, not only for survivors and their families, but for those citizens who are returning to us.

- Okay, referring to your answer there about the fact that there is a possibility for additional gun safety legislation in Illinois, we should mention to our viewers that we are taping this in October before the veto session.

So you'll wanna check our website, wsiu.org, for updates on the veto session should that additional legislation be passed on gun safety work, particularly in relation to domestic violence.

As you pointed out a major issue when protective orders have been issued, a change in the law being proposed to make sure the gun is removed within 48 hours.

This program will be repeated and will air after the veto session.

So it will be necessary to check for updates on what the legislature has done in regard to that work and perhaps other work in the future.

You've talked a little about some of the other advocacy efforts around gun safety, anything else you wanna talk about there in terms of what your group does to advocate for safety?

- Yes, yes, thank you so much for the opportunity.

So One Aim, we are a non-profit organization that leads Illinois's largest grassroots coalition working to protect Illinois families from firearm violence.

And we work to educate the public about gun violence and the firearm industry, and we organize and advocate to translate that public opinion into effective public policy.

And we have made tremendous progress in our work to protect Illinois families.

Most recently, we passed a historic bill that holds the firearm industry accountable, and that bill is called the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, FIRA, which allows gun manufacturers to be sued for deceptive practices, including advertising to marketing to our children, and marketing that encourages a paramilitary activity, and most recently, marketing to our Black and brown communities.

I mean, when you think about it, other industries, when they act irresponsibly or wrongfully, we're able to sue them.

Like take for example, the tobacco and opioid industries that have been kept in check, large part due to the lawsuits and the settlements are so high.

However, in 2005, the gun lobby successfully passed a law that gives immunity to firearm manufacturers from most lawsuits, and that's called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

FIRA allows gun manufacturers to be held accountable for the harm that they have caused, either by their actions or inactions.

And this opens up a whole new realm of opportunity for victims and survivors to get the justice that they seek after their lives have been ever-changed to losing their loved ones to gun violence.

Other year-round advocacy efforts that we've pushed through over the years, it's been the firearm restraining order, Lock Illegal Ownership Bill, gun dealer certification, ghost guns ban.

Like I just mentioned, Protect, well, actually, the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which bans assault weapons and sale of switches, restricts sale of high-capacity magazines and restricts gun ownership and enhances trafficking capabilities.

And as mentioned earlier, as you just also shared, we hope that by the end of the year we can add protection for domestic violence survivors to that list with a bill that is named after Karina Gonzalez.

And for those of you who don't know who she was, in July of this year, Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter, Daniela, were shot and killed by Karina's husband, despite her efforts to secure an order of protection.

She tried to save herself and her family, but our current system failed her, and has failed too many survivors of domestic violence.

So firearms should not be in the homes of abusers.

And this bill will close that loophole, finally, to make sure they are not.

Yes, so we're excited about Karina's bill.

It's about empowering survivors and ensuring that they don't have to live in fear of firearms in their homes.

- Okay, Yolanda, just a few minutes left, so I'm gonna move to my last question.

While states like Illinois are taking action, many say that there is also a need for federal legislation.

Let's talk about why that's important.

- Sure, sure.

Well, yes, Illinois has some of the strongest gun laws in the country.

We are graded actually at A on Giffords scorecards.

Much of our gun violence though is due to guns trafficked from our neighboring states with weak laws.

And that is why we need federal legislation.

No matter how many state laws that are passed, if our neighboring states have weak laws, Illinois residents can still just within an hour of Chicago go buy an assault weapon.

So it's really important that we have very strong federal laws.

The reality is that gun violence is everywhere and it is a national public health epidemic.

There is no one state, community, race, sexuality, affiliation, any other differentiating factor that keeps you safe from gun violence.

And while Illinois has made tremendous strides to keep our residents safe, we still have alarming statistics because of our neighboring states.

Every day, 327 people are shot in the United States on average.

And now gun violence surpasses car accidents as the leading cause of death for people ages one to 19.

Guns are killing our children at an alarming rate.

And for those that say, "Gun violence is not a problem," they really need to take a look and hear the statistics.

We know that common-sense gun laws work, background checks work.

FBI records show that when a background check is conducted, they are effective.

- And I'm glad you mentioned that, Yolanda, because, of course, Illinois, it's required, but in other states, folks can go to gun shows or purchase a gun through private owners and not have a background check.

So this is important to understand that that's a loophole in federal law that advocates for gun safety have tried to close for a very, very long time.

Of course, you have a website folks can search for One Aim Illinois to learn more about your organization.

My guest was Yolanda Androzzo, she is executive director of One Aim Illinois.

It's a group that advocates for gun safety.

Yolanda, thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you for having me.

- It's been good having you with us.

Thank you for joining us at home.

For everyone at WSIU, I'm Fred Martino.

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