“So you’d be scared if I had a gun in my apartment?” Manny said as the Seinfeld theme song blared in the background. I stared at his chest, fixated on the mediocre typography of the Supreme brand that sat on his sweatshirt, as I avoided eye contact. Well, I wouldn’t say I would have been scared but nervous would have described my feelings more accurately. “Wait, do you have a gun right now? Like here? at this apartment?” I said anxiously. I stood up and started taking apart his couch, one after the other, Ikea throw pillows were lightly tossed to the side. Manny threw his head back and laughed, he said “Not right now, I have owned guns in the past but I do support the whole thing”. I found myself a little shocked, am I the minority here? Completely terrified and uneasy at the thought of a gun? While I feel that I am valid in thinking this way, others don’t. According to The G- Brief, “Surveys show that only 49% of Millennials support “more strict” gun laws…(while) 63% of Millennials believe that US citizens should be allowed to own assault weapons”.
Rallying behind these stats is Manny, an associate production designer & lighting director for Sooner Routhier. While he does support gun usage he has very specific limitations, “I believe that stricter laws need to be put in place, or else people will be going around with a gun and zero knowledge on how to use them”. He believes that guns should be respected and do have their place in society. Specifically, more reserved for shooting ranges or in a locked safe in your home. He also says that it should be very difficult to attain guns, that that “is a key part to all of this”.
But what will gun control look like under a new presidency? “He's probably going to deregulate them more, if he does there will be a lot more gun violence” Manny says. He may not be far off, recently, according to NBC news, “President Donald Trump quietly signed a bill into law Tuesday rolling back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun”. This initial regulation came to light after the horrific events that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School. What will this mean for the future of gun violence in our country?
Manny looks over at me as I continue to search under cushions and in drawers, searching for a hypothetical gun. “I don’t have a gun!” he insisted. “But what would you do if an intruder entered your home?” he asked me with a sly grin on his face. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do but I bet I wouldn’t turn into Annie Oakley over night so I doubt the presence of a gun would help me much as an individual. As I finished my thought, a massive amount of throw pillows were thrown at my head. “I have no gun, we missed 3 episodes of Seinfeld, And my apartments a mess. Trump will continue to make decisions that support the right to own a gun regardless of consequence. Are we done?”. I accepted the end of the interview and focused on Jerry Seinfeld making some joke about airplane food.
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