EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

In 2023, the average number of persons lost annually due to gun violence in Michigan was 1,406. In that same year, 1,093 died in traffic accidents. We do a lot to prevent car accidents — speed limits and enforcement, seat belts, licensing, drivers training, drunk driving laws, etc. We do a lot less to prevent gun violence.

Some recent legislative efforts have been successful. Yet, implementation and understanding continue to lag. Merely speaking about these laws will label me a “leftist socialist wanting to take everyone’s guns away.” This effectively puts an end to the conversation. Why? The massive campaign launched by the NRA has instructed the public to view any effort to address gun safety as an effort to take all guns away. At the same time, opinion polls tell us that most Americans would like to have limits on who has access to guns (children, mentally ill, criminals) and what kind of guns are regularly available (assault weapons, bumpstocks, machine guns). Yet we have great trouble getting the word out that the law now requires you to lock up your guns when children are present. The law also now allows individuals to make a legal effort to keep guns away from family members who are suicidal. These limits do not run afoul of the Second Amendment unless and until the U.S. courts deem it so. I won’t venture to guess what they may do.

So I am not done talking. This issue touches us all. As a former law enforcement officer, I have more than average knowledge about gun violence and still, it can make me hesitant to go to public events, to engage in public disagreement, to stand up for what I believe. It doesn’t have to be this way. “More guns” is no more the path to less violence than “more cars” is the path to reducing traffic deaths. If it were, then we would be the country with the least gun violence, not the most. And gun violence would not be the leading cause of death for children. If you think this is just a big city issue, you would be wrong about that. No community is immune, as more than half of gun deaths are due to suicide.

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And I am not done acting. For instance, we can come together to remember victims and educate others by creating a soulbox through a project organized nationally and carried out by local communities. The soulbox project is a way of memorializing those who have been impacted through art. Much like the AIDS quilt, the resulting display will be a reminder that we need to do more to bring down the number of lives lost. Two gun violence prevention groups in Grand Haven are working to create a display depicting the 1,406 lives lost each year in Michigan. These groups also provide information and gun locks that help make your home safe. Saving lives is our objective — not taking everyone’s gun away.

News of gun-related death comes and goes too quickly in our collective consciousness. We have to fight the urge to feel like it’s just the new normal. It doesn’t have to be this way. There is much we can do if we keep talking and acting. Join us.

—Valerie Martin is a retired Chief U.S. Probation Officer for the Western District of Michigan. She coordinates the work of the Gun Violence Prevention Group at the United Methodist Church of the Dunes in Grand Haven. They work in collaboration with a similar group at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Both groups are open to all for membership.