For almost two years, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporter John Diedrich has been talking with people across Wisconsin about their feelings about guns. His series about firearm deaths is called "Behind the Gun."
This Saturday, the Journal Sentinel is hosting a Behind the Gun summit to talk about gun safety, gun ownership and gun violence.
The event will include a panel with local media personalities like Homer Blow and Michelle Bryant, firearms instructor Eddie Silas and pastor Kevin Simmons. In addition to the panel, there will be an information fair with individuals and organizations from the Milwaukee community to talk about gun safety.
“The goal here is not to get to an end, but to create a space,” Diedrich says. “We really think this is a discussion that hasn't happened yet. And that was the response [talking] to community groups — that we’re really responding to what they asked for.”
The event is sure to include some charged conversations after two highly-publicized and painful shootings in the city recently. Last Saturday, one person died in a shooting near Milwaukee’s Deer District following a concert at the newly opened Landmark Credit Union Live. Then, early Monday morning a shooter opened fire at Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee, injuring one and critically injuring another.
“There's going to be strong feelings for sure on all sides [and] trauma that's likely to come out,” Diedrich says. “We'll have some folks who are skilled in that category, that are going to be there to help comfort people.”
“My hope from this is that we could come together on some things that we could all agree on,” says Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James Causey, who is also leading the event. “We can agree that if you have a gun you have to keep it safe [and] not just for you. I think we can all agree on the safety of our community.”
The Behind the Gun: Milwaukee gun owners safety summit takes place Saturday, March 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Prince Hall Masonic Temple at 1218 W. North Avenue in Milwaukee. The event is free and open to the public.
