Guest Column By
Kelly Ramirez
For those of us in the
community of Gilroy, and
beyond, our lives were
forever changed at
5:41 PM, Sunday,
July 28, 2019.
I
n those moments of terror, as a
gunman shot randomly at people
at our Gilroy Garlic Festival, our
sense of security and safety were
devastated. Our home had been violent-
ly invaded in a similar way that plays
out too often throughout our country,
but in a way we never thought would
happen in our home.
Personally, I was shattered to the
core. Bullets flew too close. Along with
others, I ran for shelter and huddled
in fear with a group of people, swear-
ing that today was not the day we
were dying. Hours later, as I lay in bed
reliving the nightmare, experiencing
the uncontrollable shaking as my body
responded to the fight or flight experi-
ence of hours earlier, and thinking of all
the “what ifs,” I resolved then to com-
mit to working towards an answer to
this type of violence.
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True to my nature, I was ready
to jump in, head-first, and join
the fight. Fortunately, my wise and
knowledgeable husband advised me
that I had no idea what I was talking
about when it came to guns and that
I should first educate myself. He was
right. And I figured I wasn’t alone in
my lack of knowledge. Consequently,
I gathered a group of people from
the community who would join me
in learning about the issue, as well
as becoming familiar with options to
become more engaged in the fight for
safer communities. I realized that not
only for myself, but for many others,
taking action was instrumental to the
healing process.
The more educated we became, we
realized how absolutely chaotic gun
laws are, how unfortunately politi-
cized and monetized the issue is, and
that even though organizations that
support common-sense gun laws have
never promoted repealing the Second
Amendment, they are hard-fought by
the NRA.
We learned that California has
some of the strictest gun laws, but
there are roughly 800 laws. This
chaos has required a Deputy District
Attorney from the Santa Clara County
District Attorney’s office to create a
several-page “cheat sheet” for law
enforcement that outlines when guns
can be removed from a suspect and/
or when a suspect can be arrested.
We learned about “ghost guns” or
“lower 80s” where anyone, regardless
of age or criminal history, can legally
purchase items online that can very
easily be made into guns simply by
watching YouTube videos. In these
cases, there is no background check.
There are no serial numbers. And
typically, these guns are not being
made by law-abiding citizens, but
rather those involved in the criminal
element.
And during our visit with
Representative Zoe Lofgren, we
learned that she, an elected official
authorizing, sponsoring and support-
ing gun laws, was unaware of “ghost
guns.”
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SPRING 2020
We learned that it is not against the
law to threaten to shoot up a school.
Our group has had community
forums with presentations from Gilroy
police officers who have tried to explain
the various parts, types and uses of
guns. We also heard from health care
experts regarding the journey we travel
as we heal.
We’ve met as a group to have mean-
ingful dialogue, learning from people
who have different perspectives when it
comes to gun laws.
We have met with elected officials,
heard presentations from the Santa
Clara District Attorney’s office and
a presentation from Moms Demand
Action, an organization working
towards the elimination of gun violence.
We hope to also hear from the Sandy
Hook Promise about their school ini-
tiative, SAVE Promise Clubs (Students
Against Violence Everywhere).
We are still in the information gath-
ering process as it is so overwhelming.
Personally, even though I am unsure
of where my efforts will land on this
issue, I have found that by becoming
engaged in this effort, alongside many
fellow community members, I am heal-
ing. I recognize that the healing process
has no end date, and that there will be
triggers I still need to manage, but I am
grateful that I belong to a community
committed to healing from this tragedy.
Immediately following this tragedy,
the community of Gilroy came together.
The Gilroy Foundation was overcome
with millions of dollars of donations
for the support of the victims. “Gilroy
Rocks,” an art project led by local artist
Carol Peters, had community members
doing art therapy by memorializing art
on rocks and placing them around the
city.
And while the cause was horrific,
we bonded. In our coming together, we
became stronger. We are moving on. We
are healing. We truly are GilroyStrong.
I am proud to be a part of this commu-
nity I call home.
#GilroyStrong!
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