A Texans Point of View – Jennifer Greenspan

On the third day of Hannukah, we attended the Santa Monica Police Department. We traveled downstairs to a room that they described as the “squad room.” Being from Texas, I felt uncomfortable talking about gun usage and weapons. In a state that does not normalize this type of behavior, I believe it made it easier for the Santa Monica police to talk about gun usage.

At one point, the officer asked me “how many guns do you think I have in my house?” I responded honestly that I didn’t know. When everyone else in the group seemed to know that a person would not have a gun in their home, I was taken aback at the difference between me, a Texan, and the other kids on the program. It began to occur to me that the questions everyone had (or didn’t have) were unlike the questions I would ask. Even if I did not agree with the situation, I would believe that a college student was carrying a gun on campus. Most other kids on this program would think this was very strange and rarely ever heard of gun usage on their campuses or even in their state. Although I was more educated on this topic, my feelings towards the subject were not similar to the other AWB participants.

~ Jennifer Greenspan is an 11th grader from Dallas, Texas.