After the terrible tragedy of the Las Vegas shooting that unfolded on Sunday, many jumped to the internet and to social media to share thoughts, prayers, and calls to action. Words have the ability and unique power to unite communities and with the advances of social media, they can easily access millions of people within a short period of time.
One quote that went viral compared access to guns and access to abortion. The gist of the quote covers that if gun laws were like abortion laws, there would be significantly more barriers and guarantees of responsibility for gun purchase. But you can read the full quote below, as shared by supermodel Gisele:
— Gisele Bündchen (@giseleofficial) October 4, 2017
The quote has been attributed to Gloria Steinem, an iconic leader of the American feminist movement who, along with Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan, co-founded the Women's Media Center, which works to "make women visible and powerful in the media." She’s shared her refreshing advice to young feminist advocates before and works to empower women on a daily basis.
This an amazing quote but Gloria Steinem didn't actually say it. THE MORE YOU KNOW. https://t.co/ajF0V7B90V
— Catie Warren (@catie__warren) October 5, 2017
While Steinem did share the quote in a 2015 Facebook post, it’s not from her — and it didn’t rise to prominence until now.
It was actually written by 52-year-old Navy veteran Brian Murtagh, according to Bustle, in response to a 2013 article from The Examiner titled: “What if gun laws were like abortion laws?”
Some of the key highlights from this piece are "only one store in the entire state would sell guns" (or none, if Kentucky follows through with their plan) and "if you were married, your spouse might have to sign off on your gun ownership." Imagine that.
The Supreme Court has upheld both the right to own guns and the right to have an abortion, but laws and policies have prevented both rights from being protected equally. Republicans hold gun ownership as sacred but denounce abortion rights at each opportunity, to the concern of advocates. Just this Tuesday, House republicans passed a bill that would make abortion a crime after 20 weeks.
"I thought it was a really, really clever way to show the hypocrisy between the different positions," Murtagh told Bustle.
Agreed. And it's so amazing to see how our words are more powerful than we realize.