Social justice agency saddened by shooting deaths

U.S. Congress urged to create 'effective gun legislation' to stop increasing violence.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) expressed sadness at the “unnecessary and heartbreaking” gun-related violence of the past weekend in the United States.

Fourteen people, including the alleged perpetrator died at the American Civic Assn. in Binghamton, N.Y., on Friday. On Saturday, three Pittsburgh police officers were shot and killed while answering a domestic dispute.

Last year, The United Methodist Church’s highest policy-making body adopted a resolution that declared “the need to prevent the incidence of firearm-related injury and death is an issue of increasing concern and a priority public health issue.” In the resolution on “Gun Violence,” the denomination calls for social policies and personal lifestyles that bring an end to senseless gun violence.

GBCS’s statement, signed by Jim Winkler, top executive of the agency, points out that the shootings in Binghamton were “particularly sad” because the majority of those killed were refugees. They were “immigrants who had fled war-torn and violent parts of the world to come to the safety of the United States only to meet a violent death,” the statement emphasizes.
GBCS states that its sadness at the tragic loss of life is equaled by its “continued disappointment” at the inability of the U.S. Congress “to enact necessary, common-sense gun regulations.” The statement cites several necessary issues for Congress to address: instituting background checks on all gun sales, including at gun shows; limiting bulk sales of guns intended to be illegally sold; and reinstating the ban on sale of military assault weapons to civilians. GBCS contends these would help lessen the increasing violence associated with the current absence of “effective gun regulations.”

“In the face of mounting killings due to gun violence, it is imperative for Congress to take action,” states GBCS, the denomination’s social justice agency. “In the interest of public safety, we cannot afford to allow the power of the gun lobby and its efforts to ensure ownership without responsibility to keep Congress silent and inactive.”

The General Board of Church & Society is one of four international general program agencies of The United Methodist Church. The agency’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education and Leadership Formation, United Nations and International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center at the United Nations in New York City.

The statement on gun violence follows.

GBCS Statement on Shooting Deaths in Binghamton, N.Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa.

The General Board of Church & Society of The United Methodist Church is saddened by the gun-related violence of this past weekend. Fourteen persons died in the shooting at the American Civic Assn. in Binghamton, N.Y., on Friday, and three police officers were killed on Saturday while answering a domestic dispute call in Pittsburgh, Pa. These tragic events are unnecessary and heartbreaking, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims’ families.

What is particularly sad about each of these events, which occurred just hours apart, is that the majority of those killed in Binghamton were refugees. These immigrants had fled war-torn, violent, and poverty-stricken parts of the world to come to the safety of the United States only to meet a violent death.

In Pittsburgh, the accused murderer lay in wait for the police. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest and used an assault weapon.

Theologian William Sloane Coffin has said we are in a “world awash with weapons.” The United Methodist Church believes, “the need to prevent the incidence of firearm-related injury and death is an issue of increasing concern and a priority public health issue. The United Methodist Church is among those religious communions calling for social policies and personal lifestyles that bring an end to senseless gun violence” (2008 Book of Resolutions, “Gun Violence”).

Our sadness at the tragic loss of life is equaled by our continued disappointment at the inability of Congress to enact necessary, common-sense gun regulations. Background checks on all gun sales, including those at gun shows, limiting the bulk sales of guns intended to be illegally sold, and reinstating the ban on military assault weapons to civilians would be necessary steps to start. These steps would help lessen the increasing violence associated with the current absence of effective gun regulations.

In the face of more and more mass killings due to gun violence, it is imperative for Congress to take action. In the interest of public safety, we cannot permit the power of the gun lobby and its efforts to ensure ownership without responsibility to keep Congress silent and inactive.

As followers of Jesus the Peacemaker, we yearn for leadership of those who will restore safety and security in our public spaces. The right to own guns should be measured by the enormous responsibilities attached to it.

It is clear from the increasing gun violence in the United States that these responsibilities are not being taken seriously. Therefore, it is incumbent upon Congress to take action and ensure that these responsibilities and regulations be enacted.

Jim Winkler
General Secretary
General Board of Church & Society
The United Methodist Church
April 7, 2009