One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
Take A Deep Breath. Don't Buy A Gun
People wait outside Martin B. Retting, Inc. guns store, Culver City (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
COVID-19 has transformed our way of life overnight. And understandably, people are scared about what that means for society going forward.
You may have see images like the one above — long lines of at gun shops around the region.
I was familar with the instinct from the reporting I did when I hosted a podcast called The Big One: Your Survival Guide and people asked me over and over again: Should I buy a gun?
At the core of that argument is the belief that society is going to fail. Law enforcement is going to be ineffective. That your neighbors are going to turn against you. And that it's you and only you that can save yourself and that you need a weapon to do it.
I talked to Robyn Gershon, Clinical Professor at NYU school of public health, when I reported on the podcast and I checked in with her again this week. She told me:
"It doesn't make sense. We're not going to fall apart."
Sponsored message
Take a deep breath. We're going to make it through this together.
READ MY FULL STORY:
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS:
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
