As a group of House Democrats urges presidential action on gun control, others are pushing the Senate to vote on House-passed gun control bills. In either case, the result would make people more vulnerable. When the right to keep and bear arms is suppressed by a government, the doors to oppression and abuse are opened. I know because I’ve seen it.

Hardwired, the global human rights organization I founded, fights against the oppression of religious communities of all faiths in countries around the world. Among these countries is Nigeria, where Fulani herdsmen have been waging a war against Christian farmers for the past decade, but in recent years, it’s grown much worse. The Fulani herdsmen are attacking farmland throughout the region to force Christian farmers out of the area and take over their land. The attacks typically increase in the spring and are carried out with AK-47s and machetes.