On the night of Saturday, Sept. 17 at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, an event called “Finding Common Ground” took place, whose focus was to bring gun owners and non-gun owners (both congregation members and members of other congregations) together and “break bread” and end the stereotypes of gun owners and non-gun owners as attendees discussed the issue.

 The event started with a potluck- where everyone at the event brought food for dinner. There were about 200 people in the event, divided into tables of 10 with the local delegate in the Virginia House Of Representatives, and at Marcus Simon, a Democrat of the 53rd district, covering the area between the area where Oakton is in Vienna to Falls Church was there.

  Everyone introduced themselves, and then they told their personal stories with guns and how their stories affected their views on the issue. Many of the stories from gun owners and former gun owners consisted of stories of pleasure when engaging in target practice, hunting, and other recreational activities with gun, while other stories, including one told by Delegate Simon, included stories of the consequences of handling guns irresponsibly.

   A few insights from the people who attended the event:

   “I grew up in West Virginia, where there is a culture of guns for hunting, different from what I see elsewhere. They wouldn’t think of taking their guns out anywhere elsewhere except to go hunting… So I like guns” – Peter

   “My observation is that there are too many guns… and that they’re too easy to get.” – Drew

   “I grew up in rural South Carolina… I can’t remember a time when guns weren’t around. Urban society uses guns for lawlessness and murder whereas rural society uses guns as a tool for your daily life…. If you didn’t want to lose your cows you would have to shoot a wild dog. I enjoy target shooting… no hunting. I understand the needs for guns in our society… go back and read the federalist papers… they were in fear of a tyrannical government. My story about guns is that I’ve shot these guns all my life…. I don’t someone to take away my right to hold a gun” – Elliott

   “I don’t have a gun… I will never own a gun.” – Carol

   Following their shared stories, they were asked to tell the delegate  their ideas as to how both sides of the issue can reach common ground. Everyone, including the gun owners, agreed that stricter background checks, reducing the influence of the gun lobby in political campaigns, more research on mental health and restricting access to guns for the mentally ill, and stricter punishment for crimes involving a gun are good first steps. The gun owner stated that he believed it was important that gun owners handle their guns responsibly. Then, he got very emotional, as he stated that he was angry with the stereotypes of gun owners, as he does support background checks and other efforts to combat gun violence. A lady across the table said that the U.S. should begin to rid itself of guns over a long term process, as we did with cigarettes, and began to engage in cross dialogue with the gun owner, and the table moderator began to tell them not to engage in cross dialogue.
   Simon offered his insight and gave his insight for common ground. He suggested there should be background checks, gun certification, but also tax credits for purchasing “Smartguns”- guns which can only be fired with identification, so that the guns are no longer in the hands of kids. Everyone smiled in agreement and applauded him. Everyone came together and found common ground. At times at Oakton High School, students strongly disagree with one another on personal, religious, and political issues. However, despite these differences we students should come together and find common ground as the people who attended this event did.