Almost 10 years after Sandy Hook, we are again confronted with the semi-automatic weapons caused murders of 19 elementary school children and 2 teachers in Uvalde, 10 Black shoppers in Buffalo, and hospital workers in Tulsa, to name a few. There has been little, if any progress, in legislation to promote gun safety and decrease gun violence in the intervening years.

“There are no words to adequately convey the deep sadness and sorrow and overwhelming shock at the incomprehensible loss of life. The word tragedy doesn’t begin to describe what occurred. These massacres cannot be considered ‘the new normal.’’
"The Catholic Church consistently calls for the protection of all life; and these mass shootings are a most pressing life issue on which all in society must act—elected leaders and citizens alike.”
                                                 —Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S., Archdiocese of San Antonio

This is a pandemic unique to our society. We have 20% more guns than we have citizens and we have had 93 more mass shootings in a two-decade span than the next developed country with the next highest count, France (8). Furthermore, despite the headlines and media emphasis, the majority of gun deaths are suicides. As people of faith, we believe in the sanctity of and the right to life. As such and as people of good will, we must demand that congress uphold their constitutional duty and enact laws that keep our children safe through policies that increase gun safety and decrease gun violence.

Urge your federal representatives to support the bills addressing the following:

·         enact more thorough background checks and close loop holes
·         increase the minimum age for gun ownership
·         strengthen “red flag” laws
·         ban civilian access to assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks
·         criminalize gun trafficking
·         remove the unprecedented blanket immunity afforded the gun industry that is instrumental in preventing industry-wide life saving changes.