wfn.org | NCC presses the need for an end to gun violence

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

The Supreme Court's gun control decision is 'disappointing,'
But the NCC presses the need for an end to gun violence

Washington, June 30, 2010 -- The National Council of Churches has found  the 
Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on gun ownership to be "disappointing,"  but 
stressed that the ruling does not negate the possibility of enacting  laws to 
reduce gun violence.

The court ruled that citizens have a right to keep  handguns in their  homes 
for self-protection but did not declare whether state and city  laws against 
gun possession are constitutional under the Second  Amendment. That decision 
was referred back to lower courts.

Even so, Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago said the ruling made the  city's 
handgun ban "unenforceable."

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary, said the ruling  
highlights the urgency of a National Council of Churches resolution  passed in 
May calling on local, state and federal legislators "to enact  reforms that 
limit access to assault weapons and handguns."

"Ending Gun Violence, A Resolution and Call to Action," stated that  100,000 
Americans are shot or killed by guns each year, and that every  day an average 
of 300 Americans are victims of gun violence.

Responsible gun ownership is consistent with constitutional rights, the  
resolution said, but "there are relatively few shootings by average  citizens 
defending themselves. Rather, most fatal and non-fatal  shootings result from 
abuse or misuse of guns."

"The member communions of the National Council of Churches do not for a  moment 
suppose that the justices who voted in the majority are  insensitive to this 
reality, or think that the Second Amendment protects  the right of 
irresponsible or criminal gun owners to misuse their  weapons," Kinnamon said. 
"That makes it even more urgent that the  Supreme Court clarify how laws can be 
implemented and enforced to  protect all citizens from the misuse of guns."

Kinnamon said most NCC member communions understand the Second Amendment  as a 
move by the framers to enable 18th century citizens to keep arms  available for 
military use if the country were attacked. "We would agree  with Justice John 
Paul Stevens, who said in his dissent that the  amendment has 'only a limited 
bearing on the question that confronts the  homeowner in a crime-infested 
metropolis today,' and his observation  that 'firearms have a fundamentally 
ambivalent relationship to  liberty,'" Kinnamon said.

The NCC resolution calls upon member churches to "participate with  movements 
such as 'Heeding God's Call' (http://www.heedinggodscall.org)  to insist that 
commercial (gun) sellers adopt and adhere to responsible  sales practices," and 
to "prayerfully, financially, and otherwise  support the NCC staff in 
coordinating ecumenical efforts for gun  violence reduction."

The full text of the resolution is at  
http://www.ncccusa.org/NCCpolicies/gunviolence.pdf

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of  Christ in 
the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation  among Christians 
in the United States. The NCC's 36 member faith groups  - from a wide spectrum 
of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical,  historic African American and 
Living Peace churches - include 45 million  persons in more than 100,000 local 
congregations in communities across  the nation.

>For more information see www.ncccusa.org

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 
(cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org