Back in June, I participated in a Vail Symposium Conversation on Controversial Issues. The topic of the conversation was gun violence. The event was hosted by historian Clay Jenkinson, with Josh Horwitz from Johns Hopkins and myself serving as the panel.
Overall, I was pleased with how the event went, especially my contribution of the perspective of normal gun owners who are also concerned about negative outcomes with firearms. Immediately following the event, I recorded some reflections that I published on my “Light Over Heat” YouTube page.
The event video (2 hours) is much longer than my own (11 minutes), but I think it is full of insights about guns/gun violence and how we frame/engage those issues.
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Gun Culture 2.0 
Dr. Yamane, I admire and respect your tolerance for attending these kinds of symposiums. I stopped counting the number of snuck premises and manner in which the “moderator” framed the issues. Thank you for representing those of us that see things differently.
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Thanks for posting this. I forwarded it to the other Board members on my gun club. One has to know what people are thinking.
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I want to agree that your willingness to enter this clearly hostile and biased environment and try to inject some rationality is notable. While this is a conversation worth having, that we must have eventually, it is clear that you were on your own here, with even the “moderator” (I use that term sarcastically) presenting a skewed perspective. The bias was palpable and it seemed to be implicitly assumed that gun owners are evil. It was hard not to see you being used as foil, much like the John Oliver clip. There seemed to be a lack of fairness. I can honestly say I do not think I could do so in the face of such apparent dismissiveness. I think I have whiplash from shaking my head so frequently and vigorously while watching. This is why the gulf between people on this issue seems so wide and potentially unnavigable. Well done.
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Josh sounds like he drank the Kool-Aid. No nuance.
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