wfn.org | NCC Governing Board calls for end to gun violence

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

With 100,000 Americans shot by a gun every year,
NCC Governing Board calls for end to gun violence

See: www.ncccusa.org/news/100519gunviolence.html

New York, May 19, 2010 -- Alarmed by statistics that 100,000 Americans  
annually are victims of gun violence, the National Council of Churches  
Governing Board unanimously adopted a resolution calling for legislative  
action to limit access to assault weapons and hand guns.

The Governing Board, presided over by National Council of Churches  President, 
the Rev. Peg Chemberlin, met May 17 and 18 in a Newark  airport hotel in 
Elizabeth, N.J.

The resolution, "Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action,"  also 
called on Congress to close the "gun show loophole" that allows  buyers to 
purchase firearms from private sellers without submitting to  background checks 
or providing documentation of the purchase.

The resolution called on member churches to support the NCC staff "in  
coordinating ecumenical efforts for gun violence reduction," including  the 
preparation of educational materials and establishing dialogue among  gun 
owners and gun control advocates.

"Responsible gun ownership can be consistent with our constitutional  rights," 
the resolution stated. "However, it must be stressed that 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 resolution cited statistics that firearms are used in 1.5 million  crimes 
annually in the U.S.

"More than 69,000 shootings each year are non-fatal, yet still leave in  their 
wake a trail of pain, suffering and/or disfigurement, and anguish  and grief 
for family and community," the resolution stated.

The full text of the resolution can be downloaded at  
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 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.

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