Gun-violence prevention should include gun education and understanding gun ownership, a rural Westerner writes

Illustration by Zoe van Dijk, The Washington Post

In the broad swaths of the landscape that constitute rural America, there are many reasons for gun ownership. Education writer Maddy Butcher of Montezuma County, in the southwest corner of Colorado, shares her thoughts in "What city dwellers don't get about gun ownership in the rural West," a piece for The Washington Post. She focuses on a visit to the area by Jonathan McMillan, director of Colorado's new Office of Gun Violence Prevention:

"We had gathered for McMillan's recent 'listening tour' stop in Cortez, held at the county annex building just off Main Street. Over dinner, served from foil catering trays onto paper plates, many of the more than 100 attendees told McMillan and his team about their concerns, mostly centered on the potential disruption of what until recently has been gun-toting normality in the rural West. . . . Folks here have a lot of thoughts on gun-violence prevention, beliefs that likely do not align with those living in cities and suburbs. . . . One value did bubble up that I think anyone could embrace: the need for education.

"The message from rural dwellers with many reasons for gun ownership was clear: Don't shun guns. Get to know them. Teach your kids about using them safely. . . . Thanks to my parents, I learned how to handle guns when I was young. . . . As rural areas absorb more people from the cities, conversations around responsible gun ownership and classes for safe gun handling are more essential, not less. Guns are ubiquitous here. For shooting prairie dogs and rattlesnakes. For hunting deer and elk. For putting down a suffering animal. For deterring predators. For fun. . . . Even if folks here raise their children in gun-free homes, with a shun-gun approach, the kids will likely still come across one at a friend's house or during a gravel-road hangout after a team practice or in a pickup truck or back pasture. . . . According to the gun-violence-prevention organization Everytown, there have been at least 136 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 55 deaths. Would your child be able to handle a gun safely?

"During McMillan's stop, a gray-haired woman told him that her grandson called her 'evil' for owning guns. She implored McMillan to bring hunter education back to schools and to 'teach our kids not to hate guns.' . . . I wish more urbanites and suburbanites could hear these passionate appeals to be understood from a part of the country where guns may be plentiful but mass shootings are not. . . . It's true that in rural Western states, where scant resources and social stigma around mental health are chronic problems, suicide by firearm is too common. But high rural homicide rates occur predominantly in the Southeast. . . .

"McMillan prefaced the meeting by saying, 'There is no one-size, quick or simple solution' to gun violence. . . . This is especially true for women like me, moms who want nothing to do with 'patriots' or preppers. Be careful about gun-owner stereotyping: We may recycle, wear Patagonia puffies and feel strongly about our preferred shotguns and rifles. We see that the tendency today is for virulent, if-you're-not-with-us-you're-against-us side-taking. But why?"