Gun control issues, solutions discussed by students

Photo by Michelle Rivas (Left to Right) Amber Hendrickson Community Partnerships Coordinator, Volunteer & Service- Learning Center, Jackson Olsen

A solution to gun control is difficult but not impossible to reach, according to Jackson Miner, president of UVU’s service council.

National and global gun control was discussed and broken down by students during Real Talk, a dialogue organized by the Volunteer and Service Learning Center Nov. 8. Students gathered in a circle to share their researched presentations and personal experiences.

A solution will take a lot of local involvement, educated discussion and participation from various professions, according to Miner.

Chief justice of UVUSA Jaxon Olsen, who comes from a family unfamiliar with guns, said students can come together to learn more from each other. Olsen added that he and Miner, who is more familiar with guns, often have discussions about gun control and policies.

“I used to have opinions of gun control policies that wouldn’t be effective, and that’s because I didn’t know anything,” Olsen said.

Olsen knows the first step to being involved is to know more about guns. “I feel like students just have questions about literal guns, and students have questions about what [guns] mean, and what is that, and what does it do and answers to those questions are a crucial part to less gun violence.”

The group brought up that a big issue in Utah is mental health. Eighty-two percent of gun violence in Utah is directly related to suicide. The group hopes that the statistic will be reduced with more involvement from mental health specialists and psychologists.

“Civil dialogue is one of the things that’s missing in today’s world and in politics,” Olsen said. “I feel like with Real Talk, and why I love Real Talk and Pizza and Politics, is because we’re taking away Facebook. You can argue with someone and scream at them over Facebook about these issues, but once you get in the same room and ask these really in-depth questions and you realize there’s a human on the other side of that … it becomes a civil dialogue.”

“The purpose of Real Talk is to help students talk about taboo topics in our society,” said Nate Terry,  a main coordinator of the Real Talk discussion and an on-campus student coordinator with the Service Council.

Olsen will be continuing the dialogue with Pizza and Politics and a panel discussion on gun control with the owner of local gun shop, Get Some Guns & Ammo Nov. 14 at 1:00 p.m. in the Ragan Theater.

(left to right) Jackson Miner English major Senior, Nate Terry Digital Marketing Junior and Destyni Psychology and Criminal Justice Senior discuss about gun control