WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 032721 Ramses Ja and Q. Ward 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:03.200 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am your 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:04.120 host Rams' job. 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:06.280 They called me q Ward and I think they called 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.320 me that because my mom actually named me Quentin, and 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:10.879 Q was easier to say. 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:13.360 That's how I think that worked out. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:19.400 I think it works too, man. And yeah, man, I 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.400 needed that laugh. Man, it was a heavy week. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:23.720 I'm tired of heavy weeks. 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:24.040 Man. 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:29.160 Like I promise y'all, we have so much intention on 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:35.120 doing a celebratory, joyous, happy show, you know what I mean. 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:37.800 We want to come on here, laugh, smile, joke, uplift 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.160 our people. But they keep giving us more. 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:42.800 Stuff. 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.720 That's just like, man, come on, and they gave him 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:47.760 to us bike to bike. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:48.480 Yeah yeah. 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.720 In case over this past week, and in case you've 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:56.000 been under a rock this past week, you know, obviously 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:58.880 there was uh well if you've been on the rock, 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:03.400 I guess it's not that obvious, but there was a 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:16.000 mass shooting in Georgia that was disproportionately uh affected. 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.760 The Asian American community. 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.479 After all of the stuff that they've already been through, 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:26.960 you know, the terror and the you know, racism and 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.240 all that sort of stuff. Now to have a mass 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:34.000 shooting take place it's just a lot by itself. But 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:38.440 you know, a few days ago, you know, someone opened 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.160 fire in a grocery store in Colorado, and. 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:45.920 You know, we're here to make sense of that. 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.800 We're here to try to make sense of it. I 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:51.840 don't I don't know that that that will be successful. 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.040 We're gonna give it a shot, though, you know. 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.400 You you never think that you're going to end up 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.000 in this position have these conversations about this sort of stuff. 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.400 But life has a funny way of bringing stuff to 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:07.440 your doorstep and leaving it there, and you have to 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.680 deal with it. And so it wouldn't be right if 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.680 we didn't address it on a show like this. Now, granted, 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:16.040 we have to bear in mind that we're looking at 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:21.320 it through a black lens, and we have to figure 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.079 out what it means to us, you know, because I 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.360 think we're all to wonder gre another, trying to find 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.440 our place in the world relative to each other as 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:38.760 brothers and sisters on this planet and above that, and 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:41.200 before we even get to that point, I think that 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:46.760 there's a human component there that, you know, begs us 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.160 to consider it. You know, these are human beings that 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.600 once upon a time were alive that are not alive anymore, 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:57.120 and it's just sad, and they were just living their 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.640 lives and never at any point expected that that would 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.360 be the life day that they were alive, and then 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:06.440 their families and their communities have to continue on about that. 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:11.600 But the reason why this is important for this type 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.480 of space is because every time something like this happens, 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:16.640 and certainly if it happens twice in a week on 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:22.080 this level, the conversation turns to, you know, what are 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:24.560 we going to do about these guns? And what does 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.360 the Second Amendment really mean in terms of, you know, 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:29.480 our right to bear arms. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:31.960 In this country? And I think this is. 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.840 Kind of timely for us because you know, behind the scenes, 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:44.840 you and I have had some conversations about this very thing, and. 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:48.800 Today is the day that you know, we'll just kind 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:49.640 of share. 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.920 Our dialogue with our listeners so that you know, they 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:58.240 know that there's a few different ways to think about this, 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:01.880 and you know, you got to find what's right for 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:06.000 you and move through the universe with that intention. 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:11.120 But hopefully, you know, will help you flesh out some. 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.040 Thoughts that maybe you hadn't considered before, or you know, 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.120 maybe reaffirm something that you know to be true for yourself. 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.279 You know, there's a lot of folks that talk about 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.720 background checks. There's a lot of folks that talk about, 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.560 you know, whatever, how these things are going to work, 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:31.320 and how these things are going to get fixed and 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:33.320 so forth, And the truth is, none of them really 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.120 sound like they're going to work. Unless everybody takes all 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.560 the guns away, then nobody can shoot anybody and you 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:39.960 don't have to worry about this sort of thing. 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:41.839 I get it. 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:44.040 That's a pie in the sky and it's not realistic, 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:45.719 and there's always going to be a bad guy with 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.520 a gun and blah blah blah. But you know, that's 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:54.120 that tends to be the way those conversations go. But 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.960 you know, if we've made an effort towards that, then 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.000 you know, maybe the reality of no more mass shooting 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:02.960 might you know, I know that they did this in Australia, 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.000 and so I know it's possible because once upon a 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.720 time they have mass shootings and then after a bunch 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:09.120 of kids got shot up, they're like, you know what, 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.240 no more guns, give us all the guns back, And 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.080 they haven't really had anything like that since, so I 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:13.680 know it's possible. 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:14.640 I believe it's possible. 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.039 But one thing that was said by someone who I'm 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.359 a fan of a he's a great orator and a comedian, 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:28.560 Dave Chappelle. He said that the only way that they're 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:30.960 going to change the law, he says, you know, it's 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:34.119 an election year. The only way they're going to change 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.320 the law. I heard this is if every single black 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:43.080 person in the country, you know, fulfills their civic duty 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.360 and registers for a legal firearm. And the joke there 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:50.279 was that he was kind of leading you to say 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.839 that you want to register to vote, but he was 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:56.680 imploring folks to register to get guns black people specifically 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:05.039 because his I'm deducing that his the idea behind that 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:11.600 was that conservative white folks would be so alarmed at 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:15.960 the amount of guns going into black communities that they 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:19.800 would change the laws. Because if there's one thing historically 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:24.600 speaking that we've learned as black people that is scarier 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.440 to conservative white folks than black people, it's black people 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:29.920 with guns. 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.320 Well, the last time there was an assault rifle band, 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.440 it was because of the Black Panther Party. Yeah, you 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:40.559 see what I mean. So he was historical basis rooted 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.479 in some very authentic truth. 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:47.240 Sure, and then there are people who are not like 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.919 Dave Chappelle, who are perhaps a bit more like me, 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:57.640 who you know, I'm not a gun person. I don't 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:06.039 believe that, you know, a gun is for me. But 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.359 I'll talk about me in just a bit. First, I 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:15.240 want to hear from you because you know, the thing 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.160 that I fear is that it's just a matter of 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:23.160 time before this mass shooting. Excuse me, mass shooting sort 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.880 of a thing is on our doorstep, and it's such 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:28.960 a scary thing, but you know, it's something we have 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.640 to talk about. You know, there was an attempted mass 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:37.640 shooting maybe a year ago where we live, and you. 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:39.280 Know, I'm not sure if it was that long ago 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:40.880 out in Glende. 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.800 Recently, yeah, And so you know it's it's one of 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:47.040 those things where it's like, Okay, well, it feels like 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:48.840 it's like waiting for an earthquake. You know, I grew 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.200 up in California, and you know, you're in a constant 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:54.880 state of awareness that an earthquake could hit at any time, 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:56.240 and you know where the exits are, and you know 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.440 what the earthquake drills are, and but this is for 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.840 mass shooting, and you know they have those mass shooting 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.120 drills in schools for kids, you know, because school shootings 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:05.120 and matches are. 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:09.560 I can't even imagine sure Grayson coming home from school 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:14.160 to explain the mass shooting drill that they practice that 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:15.040 school today. 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:20.840 Well there's that, But for the rest of us in 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:25.240 the general population, you know, there is no grocery store 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.320 drill for shooting, you know what I mean. So having 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.880 that constant state of awareness, like if you're living in 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.360 California where an earthquake could pop out at any time, 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.000 you come to terms with the fact that you know 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:37.840 it's just a matter of time before it happens. 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.040 It will happen. I just got to know what to 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:41.040 do when it happens. Right. 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:46.839 It feels like that with a mass shooting. And I'm 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.760 sure that everyone listening to us right now, to some 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:53.640 degree or another, feels like, you know, they're not You're 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:56.720 not gonna you know, there's nothing you can do in 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.280 terms of living your life, like a normal life that 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:03.760 will keep you beyond the line of fire. You know, 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:05.800 you can go to a country concert in Vegas, you 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.959 can go to the growth to Walmart and church Texas. 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:10.800 You can go to church and pray to God. It 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:12.839 doesn't matter. You can be sleeping in your bed, be 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.840 a kindergartener and go to school and you're like, if 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:17.800 someone will execute you with a gun, you know it's 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:19.800 possible for that to happen because we've seen it in 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.079 recent years. I remember I picked up my older son, 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.280 Christian from school that day the Sandy Hook happened. I 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:27.440 was like, you know what, let me just go over 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.880 here and get my son right now, because I don't 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:31.760 know what's going on in his planet and his world, 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:33.079 and you know, here we are. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:39.959 So the gun debate is one that is a little 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:40.679 bit messy. 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.480 It's not my favorite thing because I'm not a big 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:47.000 gun fan, you know, as I stated, but you know 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.000 there I'm not. This show is not for me to 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.440 just get off my ideas. This is his show for 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.960 black people to share their black ideas and to share 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.800 the space with our brothers and sisters who are allies 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.920 or themselves might have some sort of struggles or you know, 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:09.400 something to overcome, but someone with a different perspective is 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:14.640 you que So your thoughts on these things. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:15.800 First. 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.199 It's always very, very difficult to talk about these things 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.240 because I always try to and you help me a 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:30.079 lot with this not place people in a space of 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:32.319 obvious ignorance. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:33.839 Right. 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:38.240 The answers to this test are not difficult. Someone gets 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:46.120 shot with an assault rifle every time. Yeah, what would 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.560 you think would be the simple answer to all of 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.160 these mass shootings with the salt rifle? 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:54.319 Well, I want you to be. 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:58.160 Specific, because the Constitution exists in a way that it 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:01.400 does as long as there's something that has not been amended, 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.160 because that's an amendment. But you're never allowed to make 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.720 any more amendments. Those amendments are the best ever, they're perfect, 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.800 never amend more. Right, as long as those amendments exist 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.160 in the way that they do, you're always going to 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:18.280 have some pushback. Right, So in preparation for that pushback, 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.080 what would be the most simple and obvious compromise to 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.440 not take away people's second amendment, right, but to do 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:29.080 a little bit of something towards this assault rifle problem. 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:35.280 The assault rifles perhaps, but everything don't have tanks. But 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:39.040 every time someone suggests that, they're met with a lot 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.120 of pushback. And the thing about the gun issue, more 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.680 specifically is it is a bipartisan thing. 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:46.920 The support for it is bipartisan. 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.920 And I didn't realize that I thought that one side 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.040 felt way in one way, on the other side felt 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:55.439 the other way. 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:57.360 But that's not true. I've seen a lot. 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:01.679 Of pushback from both sides with regard to they're gonna 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:05.240 come in your house and take your guns, the scare 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:08.079 tactic that they use to rile people up and scare 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:13.920 people into holding fast to their guns of any type. 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.959 But I can't understand how we can watch children be murdered, 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:27.320 how we can watch church goers be murdered, how we 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.960 can watch people doing what you and I did today, 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.600 just simply out living their life. Honey, I'll be back. 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:37.520 I'm gonna go to the grocery store. Do you need anything. 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:44.400 That's the last conversation some of those people ever had. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.400 They didn't wrong someone, They didn't get into a fighter 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:50.920 and cut someone off in traffic and anger that person, 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:56.640 and that person irrationally responded far too extreme. They just 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:00.920 went to get milk, eggs, juice. 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:01.800 Baby. 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:03.480 I'll be right back, honey, I'll be right back to 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:08.520 their kids, to their spouse, just like we did today. 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.640 They go to this meeting, then we're gonna go to lunch, 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.679 and going to lunch is dangerous. 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:14.960 Now. 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.160 I went to the post office a couple of days ago. 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.960 We're all wearing masks now, so you're talking about a 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:28.680 heightened sense of I hope this isn't it. Every time 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:33.040 anyone walks in with the mask on. I hope this 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.760 person is like me, just here to send or receive parcel, 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:45.760 not here to angrily live out a match of call 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:52.000 of duty. And that because they had a bad Day's funny. 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:54.400 So that's something that I want to talk about. 0:13:54.559 --> 0:14:01.520 So, you know, there can you can make an argument 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:07.960 that the vast majority of these mass shootings have their 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:18.360 roots in white supremacist ideologies, right, not all of them, 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:23.440 but the vast majority, you know, maybe seventy percent. 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.840 Of them, right, I think maybe higher, but being conservative, sure. 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:33.000 And then there's probably another good number on top of 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:38.080 that seventy percent quote unquote that is born out of 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:44.680 a response to this American brand of white supremacy, you know. 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:52.440 And there's another way to tackle it by dealing with 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:56.800 that what is it that's making It's gonna sound crazy, 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:01.640 but what is it that's making these often white males 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:08.080 feel so disconnected from society, so divorced from reality, and 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.160 so isolated and so forth. Now, now that I'm not 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:12.760 going to go down that rabbit hole. But you know, 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.040 these are conversations, These are the sorts of questions that 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:17.840 need to be asked. In addition to what do we 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:19.520 do about these guns? I don't want to even talk 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.200 about that because that's a whole other thing that has 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:24.520 to do with psychology. What I'm talking about today is 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:25.880 and let me say my piece. 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:27.200 Okay, I'm a. 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:32.720 Black man, I have two black sons, I live a 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:39.040 black life. I do a black radio show. Right, I've 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:40.880 got death threats for doing this show. 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.320 You know that. I mean, there's nothing to worry about. 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.760 These well, right, that's what That's how we want to feel. 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.240 I mean, you know that's how I feel. But you 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:50.960 know they're not. 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:53.120 If you're hiding behind the screen and you don't have 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.040 like an icon on your social media and you just 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.000 want to get something off because you're having a bad day, 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:58.840 quote unquote, you know that's all good. 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.000 There's nothing randomized therein lies my point. Though there once 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:07.320 upon a time, once upon a time, you could responsibly 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:11.760 respond that way, it would be irresponsible to respond that 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.320 way now because of Yeah, okay, that's when you're the 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:18.400 face of a show like this, where you're speaking up 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.320 against the very men who you just described. 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:26.640 Okay, I might have to reel that back. But the 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:30.440 point I'm making here is even for me being black 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.560 and doing all of these things and having maybe more 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.360 of a I don't want to call it a target, 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:48.720 but be more visible than most people. You know, I cannot, 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.360 for myself justify. 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:57.400 Owning a gun. It's just not for me. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.200 And I tried to think about it, and I'm saying 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.040 this on air because there might be some people who 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:07.280 think about this like me. Whenever I look at a gun, 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:16.320 I only see a tool that exists to end a life. 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:20.320 It does nothing other than end a life. It terminates 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:27.480 something that has been animated by our common creator. And 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:33.240 for me, that tool has no place in my life. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:39.200 And if I do make the decision to own a gun, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:45.520 that by definition, at least for me, is a decision 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:50.200 that I made out of fear. And as a rule, 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:52.000 I don't make decisions out of fear. 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.639 What could go wrong, what. 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.560 Could happen bad? I don't live in that space. I 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:03.240 don't live my life in that space. You know, we 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:11.159 are often very critical of policing systems, but you know, 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.200 we also recognize that there's a place. 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:15.520 For that in society. 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.560 Right there should be someone that you call that might 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:20.600 have a gun, maybe in the trunk of their car, 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:22.800 that they might need to access in a worst case 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:26.200 scenario sort of a situation. But as far as Ramses 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:30.439 is concerned, I do not want to live my life 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:36.240 with a tool constantly at the ready to execute someone's life. 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:39.119 It just feels like if I'm living that life, I'm 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.320 already halfway dead. Why am I that afraid? Why am 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:44.639 I carrying that fear with me? Everywhere I go? I 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:47.080 carry my keys in my phone with me. My phone 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:48.880 it doubles as my wallet, so there are only two 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:50.040 things I have to carry. Cause you're mad at me 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.560 carrying a murder. That's all it does. My phone will 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:54.560 tell me the time it is. I could talk to people, 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.639 I can play a game, you know, whatever, FaceTime, you know, 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.119 listen to some music, all these things, and then a 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:04.800 gun is way bigger. It's only purpose is to end 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:08.000 to life. So for me, on a fundamental level, it 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:14.960 just doesn't. It's not something that really makes sense for me. 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:20.000 That's not to say that I don't understand why other people, 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.880 you know, I've had this conversation before once, once upon 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:28.000 a time, my sister, the world is a very different 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:35.120 place for a woman, right, and women it doesn't matter. 0:19:35.200 --> 0:19:38.879 Sometimes they just have that fear because they're so vulnerable 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.040 so much of the time. She told me a story 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.919 about walking to her car at night from when she 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.879 was in college at Arizona State, and she's like, you know, 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:49.800 the reason I call you every day is so you're 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:52.159 on the phone with me while I'm walking to my car. 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:55.440 And I just didn't get like, why do you keep calling? 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:55.960 You know what I mean? 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.359 And then finally she pulled up. She's like, Ramas, do 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:01.560 I want to talk to you? Like, the world is 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:03.800 very different from me. I need to talk to my 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.760 big brother when I'm walking to the car. If nothing 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:09.840 ever happens to me, at least I feel better about that. 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.040 So I get that some folks their life is based 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:15.240 in a more they've had more traumatic experiences, or they're 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:18.520 a lot more vulnerable, you know, So far be it 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:21.359 for me to tell anybody else how to live their life. 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.840 But I do recognize that, you know, I'm not one 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.520 of those people that's going to fight against you know, 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:30.520 everybody's guns getting taken away because I'm like, well, shoot 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:31.240 everybody's guns? 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:34.199 Who who made you? 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:34.800 God? 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:36.880 Who made you the decider of who gets to live 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:39.080 and die? You know, if you believe in that sort 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:44.040 of a thing, and you know, if somebody's coming for 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.719 you and they have a gun, how likely is it 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:51.760 that you're going to recognize the threat and be able 0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:55.879 to respond to that threat accurately enough to neutralize that 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:56.960 threat using a gun? 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:59.320 If you really are that, if you if you really buy. 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.679 A gun for protection, I think that you're telling yourself 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:03.399 a story. You buy a gun for fear. If you 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.080 need protection, you buy a vest. That's what I think. 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:10.760 And I think that most people buy a gun because 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:14.160 they want that power, and then when they have that 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:18.240 power and they don't get their way, they are able 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:22.160 to wield that power to suit their immediate needs and 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.359 to kind of create some immediate gratification. And I think 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:29.120 that human beings are exceptionally irresponsible when it comes to that. 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:32.880 We are supposed to love each other. That's why love 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:35.160 feels better than anger and hurt, and we don't cry, 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:38.240 you know what I'm saying, that's our natural state. Let's 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:42.879 chill this so you know, I could rant all day 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:43.920 about that sort of a thing. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.199 But except I'm sitting here as a gun owner and 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:49.719 would not allow you to do so. 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:51.680 Right, Well, that's why I'm talking to you about it. 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.320 So the other side, love absolutely feels better. 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:00.720 Except and for those of you you listen to us 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.520 on a regular you know that my partner is a 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:08.119 forever optimist. We used to joke with Ramses when we 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.639 when we first met in the infancy of our friendship, 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:16.200 that the world is rainbows and butterflies to him. However, 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:23.320 Ramses is from Compton, Q is from Detroit, and we 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:26.080 are from places where you it's almost and I'll use 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:30.040 the word irresponsible again to think one hundred percent of 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:34.000 the way that Ramses does nine you be all right, 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:39.679 because love should rule and conquer all. We should be 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:44.199 more protective of one another. We should not have to 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:51.119 own a gun to defend ourselves. But in the same 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:53.280 way that you know, Ramses does not move in a 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:56.880 world where the worst case scenario is how he makes 0:22:56.880 --> 0:23:00.640 his decisions. But you don't think you're house is gonna 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:05.200 get flooded, but you buy home insurance. You don't think 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:07.960 your house is gonna catch on fire, but you have 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:12.280 a fire extinguisher. You have car insurance. You buy cell 0:23:12.320 --> 0:23:14.320 phone insurance, not because you're gonna throw your phone on 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:16.959 the ground, but any event that you drop it one day, 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:21.840 you sure not, You sure rather not spend another thousand 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:26.400 dollars on a new iPhone. I came home one day 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:35.080 with my son, my pregnant woman to a gentleman sitting 0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:43.120 on my porch claiming that my house was his. I'll 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.440