Join us for a deliberative dialogue convened by JMU’s Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue (ICAD) in partnership with the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) as a part of USATODAY’s Hidden Common Ground project.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS. TO REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jmu-deliberative-forum-on-guns-rights-and-s...

Students, faculty and staff will deliberate together over the tough choices facing us on the issue of guns, rights, and security in an era of mass shootings and deepening political polarization in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia. Using a non-partisan issue guide developed just for this event, we’ll talk about three exclusive options for this issue and weigh the tradeoffs and consequences of acting in order to find hidden common ground on balancing rights and safety on guns. The three options include:
(1) Protect people by preparing to ward off threats: Guns are a part of this country and people should focus on protecting themselves and their communities.
(2) Protect by minimizing government involvement in second amendment rights: we should normalize guns and require more gun training.
(3) Protect by increasing regulations on gun ownership and sales: People deserve to feel safe and increasing regulations about who owns guns and what kind of guns are available for sale will help reduce risk.

Trained nonpartisan JMU students, staff, and alumni will moderate these small group discussions.

Event is open to all JMU faculty, staff and students ONLY, but pre-registration is required due to space limitations. No video/audio recording or filming of event is allowed. Cellphones will not be allowed at the discussion tables.