 Hello everyone and welcome. I'm James Milan. This is Talk of the Town and my guest today is Kristen Bauer who is a member of the Arlington Human Rights Commission. We are going to be talking specifically about an event that is happening here in Arlington around the issue of gun violence and hate and we want to talk about that very naughty, very complex topic with Kristen for the majority of the time that we're chatting here today. But first of all, Kristen, I'm sorry. I should have welcomed you already and I do thank you for being here. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you. We really do appreciate you taking the time. I do want to just ask though a little bit about yourself personally before we get into the conversation that we are going to be generally focused on. And the reason for that is that here at Talk of the Town we like to combine both getting a sense of who a person who is doing something interesting in town, who that person is, how he or she is, as well as then focusing on the work and contributions that they make here in town. So I understand that you are an Arlington resident, but I know that your Arlington residency has been somewhat unusual. So why don't you tell our audience a little bit about your own background? Sure. So my husband and I first came to Arlington in the 1980s. We bought a house here. We were lawyers working in the Boston area. But about two years afterwards, I joined the Foreign Service and we went overseas then for 30 years. And then with the advent of the previous president, I had to leave and we had a house in Arlington. So we came back here and we're very pleased to have such a welcoming community to come back to. And we are pleased to welcome you back. But 30 years in Foreign Service, I shared with you just before we went on air that I also was, you know, spent most of my youth outside of the country. It really does do a lot to mold a person's values and kind of perspective on this country and the world, et cetera. If you don't mind, where, you know, where are, where are the places that you were stationed? And if there are too many, just, you know, pick a couple. We were very fortunate. We served in a lot of different places in Africa, in Europe, and mostly in Asia, mostly in Southeast Asia. So the most recent place I was in was Myanmar Burma. But we had a wide variety of experiences. Our children got an opportunity to learn a lot of different aspects of different cultures. So we had a, we had a really excellent time. And of course, we're representing the United States and a lot of the virtues of the United States to others. And what kind of, I mean, if you don't mind my asking, what kind of work were you doing and also was you, you were saying we, does that mean both your husband and yourself were involved in the Foreign Service? Well, I think you probably appreciate when you're overseas, the whole family is a representative of the United States. My husband was not a Foreign Service officer. He worked as an attorney for some law firms overseas. And my work initially was as an economic officer. So for example, in South Africa, I helped certain communities start up entrepreneurship programs and things like that. But later in time, I became what was called a deputy chief of missions. So essentially you, you run embassies. And I did a lot of that in Southeast Asia, Burma, Indonesia, Laos, places like that. Wow. I could spend the remaining time in this segment. I'm just talking to you more about that. I'm going to have to restrain myself and perhaps we'll have you back at another time with that as the focus. But of course, we are here today because on Thursday, September 23rd, the Human Rights Commission here in Arlington is going to be sponsoring a community conversation. The topic of which, as I mentioned at the outset, is that intersection of gun guns and hate gun violence that that is, you know, that is an inevitable, it feels like part of that intersection. So what I'd like to ask you, first of all, is just to describe the event who will be participating and what the content and thrust of it will be. Yeah. So the event is tomorrow at seven p.m. It is virtual. Anybody can sign up through the Human Rights Commission website or the town website. And it's basically it's a conversation about gun violence, especially about that intersection between guns and hate, why guns make that so much more deadly. We're very fortunate to have great speakers. We have our Arlington Police Department chief who will be speaking as well as another Arlington resident and deputy leader of the Massachusetts Moms Demand Action for Gunsense in America, as well as an every town survivor fellow and some other commissioners. And of course, we'll take questions from the audience. So we're hoping it'll be a real conversation. The Human Rights Commission is focusing on gun violence through the lens of human rights because we believe that you can't really exercise your human rights, say rights to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. If there's gun violence that naturally limits your exercise of those rights. And, you know, I think that that you may have gotten these questions, certainly ones that arose to my mind when I first heard about the event has to do, you know, have to do with, okay, why at this moment or why why why now it seems again, it's not it's certainly not that it's it's not relevant. That's not my implication at all because it seems perpetually relevant. But but why now and why Arlington can you address those questions? Yeah, so on the why now, I mean, you're right. We could be doing this every month. Unfortunately, it is relevant every single moment it seems like in the United States. But I think we are particularly concerned because the sales of guns, as people may well know, has really spiked during the COVID pandemic. And here in Massachusetts, the the sales of guns went up 24% in 2020. So that's a steep rise. And that means it's very likely that there are more guns in homes in Arlington than there have ever been before. And another reason to have this event in September is that September is National Suicide Awareness Month. And as you may know, about 60% of gun deaths are suicides in the United States. So it's a moment to reflect on on that fact and on the challenges of suicide in our community. Yeah, a couple of things that you just said that I want to follow up follow up on I was reading recently, a couple of long articles about gun violence and specifically the connection to suicide number one and number two, the spike as you have referred to it around the country in gun purchases over the last year and a half, including a lot of people for whom they were buying guns for the first time, not not adding guns to an existing collection. And I am struck by the fact that you you mentioned here in Massachusetts 24%. That is not as high as the average around the country I noticed, but nonetheless for Massachusetts and for Arlington, that is an eye popping number again in a single year. And that leads to the second point in because as you said, that means more guns in more homes in Arlington. And as I understand it, data points very clearly to the fact that in many instances, having a gun or guns in the house makes makes is more dangerous for those who live there rather than less. You had mentioned that, you know, that the the incidents of suicide in terms of guns is is is very notable. But I also have noticed that guns are the chosen means for people to kill themselves quite often as well. There's a very high percentage of suicides that, you know, or, you know, guns are involved. So these are, you know, clearly those are very compelling reasons to have this conversation now and to continue it as long as as as we need as need be. Yeah, I think you had also asked, you know, sort of why Arlington, I think that framework sort of already says it, but just to expand on it a little bit more, gun violence in this country really is an epidemic. And from having been overseas so long and coming back, I was kind of shocked at how complacent people are accepting of these kind of levels of gun violence. But I think we've all learned epidemics don't respect borders, epidemics go and gun violence is just like that. And people from Arlington are not immune to domestic violence, they're not immune to suicide. People in Arlington go to work, they go to houses of worship, they go to nightclubs, they go to places where we have seen gun violence erupt. So I think the risk of gun violence is serious and important for people in Arlington to think about. I think tomorrow our Arlington Police Department chief will be able to give us more, you know, very granular specifics on Arlington. But I think in general, we can just appreciate that gun violence easily crosses borders and easily impacts people living in Arlington. And then just to pick up on a point you said about access to guns, if guns are in the home. In fact, that does increase the risk of suicide three times just by having a gun in the home. And one other piece about having guns in the home is there are a lot of unintended shootings that take place because usually because a child has gained access to an unsecured weapon in the home. So again, that the presence of a gun in a home does create a higher risk for all the people living in that home. Yeah, as you were just referencing accidental discharge, it seems to be again another all too common phenomenon in homes in which there are guns. And as you said, curious children. And so all kinds of tragedies can ensue. You know, as I was listening to you speak to the fact that epidemics have no boundaries and guns and guns in America certainly seems to qualify as an epidemic in many ways. I also was thinking, oh, what an appropriate analogy for why this is important for Arlington, even if we don't see a lot of incidences here in town or hear about them. It's the analogy is to climate change, right? Because we are part of a larger, a very, you know, increasing concentric circles, you know, in which we, you know, our actions impact others and we are impacted by the actions of others. And we have a real compelling reason, even if we are a green community and, you know, far ahead in certain measures compared to others around environmental responsibility, et cetera. Excuse me. Nonetheless, we can't stop being vigilant and active and proactive in this way. And it feels like you're right. We may not be being directly touched by gun violence here in this town at right now. But the potential always exists. And if we are allowing this creep or surge, in fact, of guns into our homes, and into our neighborhoods, et cetera, it feels like the hammer is, you know, about to fall at any point. And I would just say that, you know, there's there's a question of empathy for those who are particularly maybe disproportionately impacted by gun violence. So when we were talking about that intersection of guns and hate, a couple areas that come to mind are guns and domestic violence. Each month over 50 American women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. So that's sort of one area. Another area are guns and anti LGBTQ plus hate, where there's just a staggering amount of violence. And I want to share, I know statistics are always hard to sort of take in, but this is a statistics that stuck with me because it's so shocking. So 5% of non LGBTQ young people have been threatened with a weapon on school property. But that number rises to 17% for gay and lesbian youth and 21% for transgender youth. So these are people threatened on school property with a weapon. So that's another huge area. And then of course, another enormous area is guns and race. I think we all know that gun violence disproportionately city gun violence, for example, disproportionately impacts communities of color. In Massachusetts, black children and teens are seven times more likely to die by guns than their white peers. So these are all, I mean, we could go on at great length about all these different areas and their topics that will be covered in more detail on tomorrow. But just to elaborate a little bit more on some of the different aspects. Yeah, I'm really glad that you did bring that up in in that way, because I what I hear you saying is why Arlington and why now? Well, among other reasons, because we care, because we care about people beyond ourselves. And, you know, we need to demonstrate both solidarity and support. And, and, and again, try and do what we can, even if we ourselves, again, for the moment, because things can change at any moment, as we know, and tragedy can strike anywhere. For the moment, we might feel somewhat insulated as a community from this kind of thing. Because again, it's not something we read about in the paper very often, it's not something you find in the police logs or anything like that here in Arlington, with any again, with any kind of regularity. None of that is is to say that we can't also take a stand here and do again, more than we currently are, simply in support of those populations that are more vulnerable and are disproportionately affected in the way that you've just described. Yeah, and I think there are lots of things people can do. I think like climate change, you had made a parallel before sometimes that issue seems overwhelming. But there are things we can do right here in in Arlington. Similarly, with gun violence, which is also very complex, and in some cases may feel overwhelming kind of problem. There are things simple steps we can do right here and right now. Yeah, and you, you anticipated my next question beautifully. So please go ahead and let us know, maybe a couple of those and with the understanding again that on the event on the 23rd, this will be covered in much greater detail. Yeah, and I think people will have different perspectives tomorrow. So I really encourage everybody to tune in and listen. But I think for me, some simple things that come readily to mind are one, if you're a gun owner, securing your weapons safely, and there are ways to do this. And it can just help so much in issues of unintentional shootings or suicides or other things like that. Another one is if you're a parent, and you have a child going on a play date, or maybe they're going on a sleepover, ask the host, do they have a gun? If they have a gun, is it secure? Just like you might ask, do they have a swimming pool? Does it have a gate around it? Do they have animals in the home? So just make that one of the questions that you ask. Another one that's always important is just to be informed about the topic. I knew from being overseas, there was a huge problem with gun violence in the United States, but I didn't really understand it. And it wasn't until I started looking at some of these statistics figures and heard from survivors that it really struck me. So I would encourage in addition to joining our conversation tomorrow, just to delve into it, there are lots of different organizations that have information for whatever aspects might be most interesting for you. And then I do want to mention that the Arlington Police Department is running a no questions asked gun buyback program on October 3 for anybody who has unwanted weapons that they would like to dispose of. So those are just a few quick ones. But there will be lots more tomorrow. Yeah, and, you know, we keep on referencing tomorrow's event. And again, we are speaking on September 22. The event itself is September 23. Of course, a lot of the a lot of what we've been talking about here will resonate, hopefully with our audience as important, you know, within the event and then beyond the event. So but let me ask you, you were just saying you can join us for our conversation. How can somebody who's interested in joining the conversation tomorrow do so? So there are two ways. One is to go to the town website and just click on the calendar for the 23rd. And you'll see conversation, intersection of guns, and hey, you can click on that and register there. Or you can go to the Arlington Human Rights website, a Human Rights Commission website. So it's exactly Arlington Human Rights Commission.org. And look under events, you'll see this event again, you can click on it, get to the link to register. And then you'll get the zoom link. And we'll look forward to seeing you there. Right. So just to you know, to be clear, although Kristen really just, you know, probably made made this crystal clear. So or Kristen clear. But it is a webinar. So a virtual event, obviously. And that means, of course, that, you know, that there is no limit to those who can, can tune in and participate. And that's one of the boons of living the world in the world that we've been living in for these last, oh, boy, now closing in on two years, it feels like. Alright, is there anything, Kristen, that we have failed to mention that we should, or that occurs to you before we let you go? Maybe I can just leave with one final thought. So guns are the fourth leading cause of death for children and teens in Massachusetts. I really think if we work together, we can change that. So I look forward to working with everybody to really make a difference on this issue. A sobering and dramatic piece of data to leave us with and to leave the audience. You know, again, I think with the last reminder of why this is so important here in Arlington, right now, and each and every day, until and less, we get to a better place in this country around our obsession, it feels like with guns. I have been speaking with Kristen Bauer who is going to be part of the Human Rights Commission officers and members who will be participating in the event around gun violence and the intersection of guns and hate sponsored by the Arlington Human Rights Commission taking place on Thursday, September 23rd, starting at 7pm. Just to be clear. Anyway, thank you so much for your time, Kristen, and best of luck with tomorrow night's event. I'm sure that it's going to have an impact and thank you for doing it. Thank you. This has been Talk of the Town. I'm James Milan. We really appreciate Kristen's time. We really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time.