Guns: An Enthusiast and a Prevention Advocate Speak Out
Many might be surprised that Danny Hairston and Kenneth Boyd have a lot of view in common on gun control, since Hairston is a gun prevention advocate and a coordinator for SNUG in Poughkeepsie, and Boyd is a recreational gun enthusiast and current chairman of the board of directors for the Dutchess County Pistol Association. But recent interviews with both men showed this to be the case.
“If we can stop the front end of seeing violence as an end all be all to solve conflict, if we can stop that, everything else is moot point,” said Hairston. Similarly, Boyd said, “You have to address the personal behavior, not the instrument.”
Beginning with the 2nd amendment, Hairston believes it holds a valuable place in society. He is not anti-gun and explains how his father had guns growing up and it was never an issue. For Hairston, it is not about the firearms themselves, rather how they are used.
“I still feel people have a right to defend themselves, especially as individuals of color when we're dealing with issues we’ve dealt with, I don’t think that it’s necessarily a benefit to us not to have the ability to own them,” said Hairston.
Boyd also believes in the value of the amendment and explained how it allows him to do what he loves every day. “It’s up to the person to do it legally,” said Boyd.
As far as media coverage, Hairston and Boyd each had their own concerns with how mass shootings are reported to the public.
Hairston focused on the level of media coverage being shown in different communities. He explained how he is almost 50, and there have been shootings in the black community for his entire life — this is not something new. He believes this lack of coverage in black and brown communities contributes to the perceived normative state of gun violence.
“When Parkland occurred one of the things that I mentioned is that the reason you had such an outpouring of support coverage in the media for weeks is that in those communities it is not seen as normal. It is not normal for white children to shoot and kill other white children, however, if its the same situation in the black community where we lose a number of youth over the course of a weekend it's covered in 30 second sound bite. As I tell everyone we march for our lives every day”.
Boyd voiced his concerns on the accuracy of the reporting being done today. He said that zero shootings in Poughkeepsie were committed by legal gun owners last year, yet that isn’t always made clear in reports. “Very seldom is it very mentioned whether the person was licensed or unlicensed. I think its a valid talking point on both sides,” said Boyd.
A step further than media coverage, Hairston and Boyd both feel the conversation around gun violence needs to be refocused.
“The kids who are getting shot are not getting these guns through legal means. So if we really want to talk about gun violence and gun ownership we have to figure out, how do we stop these guns from crossing state lines? Unfortunately, the discussion that’s going on as it is doesn’t address that,” said Hairston.
Boyd echoed this and said that the gun control laws in New York State have been geared towards law-abiding citizens, yet no one is talking about how to keep illegal guns out of the wrong hands.
Bottom line, both the gun prevention advocate and the recreational gun enthusiast do not think the violence lies within the device itself, but rather in deeper underlying factors. “I think really we have to be careful when we’re looking at [gun violence] as an issue that’s only caused by gang members or drug dealers,” said Hairston. “At the end of the day, if you have more money in your pocket you are less likely to pick up a gun”.
