Robert and Dave continue their spirited conversation in the final installment on gun safety. The attempt is to look at the most sincere elements of each political party. As they examine the details of what could inspire the country to unite the fringe extremes are excluded. Trump and his key supporters who are committed to the big lie, insurrection, and many illegal activities are not considered part of the solution. A vote for Trump is a vote that threatens gun ownership. The paranoia and fear that he has unleashed and the deaths and mass shootings that have been a result of the questioning of democracy and every institution are a result of his alternative fact environment. We must tone down this animosity through more programs and treatment centers to combat dangerous nationalists and the anti-democratic calls to violence on the internet and in schools. What will make democracy flourish once again is finding the balance between individual freedom and collective responsibility. The other major theme of this series makes the connection between gun safety and transforming the expression of hatred into strength. 

For a more step-by-step breakdown of how to address transforming your own anger and resistant emotions please visit AwarenessThatHeals.org. When we become aware of what we need, we can learn to express strongly what it is that we are for rather than what we are against. A big part of doing this is not to demonize a large percentage of our population believing this is going to create more peace. This method helps navigate converting black and white thinking into strength to be for democracy and against anti-democracy. 

Robert and Dave make an out-of-the-box proposal that is a new way of imagining people who have guns. It would require willing participants to go through approved training and psychological testing to become an additional layer of protection in the form of a militia in the way that The Second Amendment intended. There are plenty of people that want to do good. This would provide an opportunity for gun owners to become protectors. We want to create a sense of membership in the United States of America wanting to protect our democracy.

Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.