By: Daniel Alonso

“You’re given a totally different perspective when gang culture and gun violence affects someone close to you,” Blake Feist stated. Feist, a 22-year-old undergraduate at the University of Oregon and an active participant in the UO College Democrats, has become adamant in his advocacy for stricter gun-control legislation. “My experiences growing up in Stockton had a huge effect on my outlook towards gun ownership.”

Feist is a native of Stockton, California, a city notorious for its reputation of high crime rates and gang-related violence. Feist had never been a stranger to gang-related shootings; gang violence was very prevalent in his life from a young age. “I remember, as a kid, knowing that there were certain neighborhoods that you shouldn’t go to, and certain kids at school that you should avoid,” Feist recalled. Despite being raised in a traditionally liberal household, he had always believed that private gun ownership was a right that all American citizens were entitled to. Gang-related violence had never affected him to the point that he believed in stricter gun legislation until high school.

During his sophomore year of high school, Feist ran into a friend and former teammate that he knew from middle school. During their brief conversation, Feist had learned that his old friend had dropped out of high school and joined a gang. Some weeks later, Feist would learn that the young man was involved in a gang-related shooting and was arrested. Feist realized the extent to which gang violence and its culture was affecting Stockton’s youth. “It was hard to digest that a sixteen-year-old, someone that I was friends with, was capable of that kind of violence.” Feist realized that the gang violence that his friend had fallen victim to was a result of a gang culture that was predicated heavily on access to guns. He believed that the issue of gang violence could be solved if guns became much more difficult to obtain. The event he experienced in high school had a profound effect on Feist, propelling him into political advocacy for stricter gun legislation. Up to this point, Feist had never cared too much for politics in general. “I saw what had happened with my friend and just thought, ‘Okay, what can I do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again?’”

Shortly thereafter, Feist began volunteering with the San Joaquin County Democratic Party for former President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012 and has been involved with the Democratic party ever since. Currently, Feist is trying to increase participation among students for gun-control advocacy demonstrations in Lane County. “I think that students can make a huge difference by actively bringing attention to the issue.”