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BY ANGELA HOWARD-MCPARLAND
was a senior when 13 students were murdered and more than 20 others wounded at Columbine High School in April 1999. Often seen as the tragic start to our modern era of mass shootings and the gun violence prevention movement, the event at Columbine spurred swift reactions nationwide, including new metal detectors and safety protocols at my Kentucky high school on the other side of the country. In the years following, as we know all too well, mass shootings have continued at staggering rates in schools, on college campuses, in places of worship, and at public events such as holiday parades and concerts. NBC News recently reported that gun ownership is at an all-time high in the United States–52 percent 1 of voters say they or someone in their household owns a firearm. Even with churches on the list of now possibly deadly locations, the Catholic Church as an institution has largely allowed gun violence prevention to be a quiet subtopic among its other pro-life advocacy. As early as 1975, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops advocated for waiting periods on gun purchases and more effective legislation around the manufacturing, importing, and sales of handguns. In 2020, the USCCB released “A Mercy and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Violence,” where they explicitly called for a renewal of an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and supported Extreme Risk Protection Orders. These documents exist quietly under the radar for most Catholics, and gun violence prevention hardly seems an active priority for the church. And yet the many individuals, parishes, and religious communities engaged in work to end gun violence and save lives know and profess that Catholic social teaching—with its stubborn insistence on the dignity of life, the preferential option for the poor, and the common good—demand that we all do better to protect all three of these realities.
It would be hard to argue that gun violence in the United States is not a major threat to human life and dignity. In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death for children and teens, a sobering statistic that remains true today. As of early December, 2023 saw nearly 40,000 Americans killed by gun violence and 627 mass shootings (defined by events in which four or more people were shot or killed, according to the nonpartisan data collection organization Gun Violence Archive). 1
Alexandra Marquez, “Poll: Gun ownership reaches record high with American electorate,” NBC News, November 21, 2023, https:// www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/poll-gunownership-reaches-record-high-american-electorate-rcna126037.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, MA participated in an Advocacy Day sponsored by the MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence on Wed. Sept. 13, 2023 at the State House. Sisters Carlotta Gilarde, Maryann Enright, and Peggy Comfrey met with Rep. Kevin Honan of Brighton, a strong supporter of this issue. Photo © Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston
And the numbers continue to climb. Everytown USA reports that 120 Americans are killed by guns on a daily basis, while over 200 are shot and wounded. Six of every 10 gun deaths are self-inflicted, with access to a firearm tripling an individual’s risk of death by suicide. In a tradition that places defense of human life as a preeminent priority, these senseless and preventable deaths by firearms deserve the dignity of our lament, reflection, and concrete action. In a recent webinar, activist Shane Claiborne decried our uniquely American obsession with firearms, noting that
AS OF DECEMBER
40,000 AMERICANS HAD BEEN KILLED
BY GUN VIOLENCE AND 627MASS SHOOTINGS HAD OCCURED IN 2023
LEDUSA) L I K R E r yt own
S A A S I S (Eve N A C ERIN A DAILY B M A 120GUNS O BY
(Gun Violence Archive)
A M AT T E R O F S P I R I T
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