Twenty-two years ago, the U.S. Catholic bishops wrote:
Our families are torn by violence. Our communities are destroyed by violence. Our faith is tested by violence.[1]
Not only was violence then destroying lives, dignity, and hopes, the bishops wrote, but fear of violence was “paralyzing and polarizing our communities.”
The violence then described by the bishops is now compounded in our consciousness by terrorism abroad, wars across the Middle East, mass shootings in places like San Bernardino, Charleston, Sandy Hook, and Orlando, shootings by police and others of Black men, women, and children, shootings of police officers, and violent political discourse. Despite our impressions and fears, as the bishops then noted, “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
Change has to begin in this nation because, as the bishops continued, “No nation on earth,except those in the midst of war, has as much violent behavior as we do—in our homes, on our televisions, and in our streets…” At the heart of much of this violence are guns—from handguns to assault weapons. There are almost as many guns in the United States as there are people.[2]
Change begins with the simple sign seen on some church properties: Thou shalt not kill. The fifth commandment’s mandate is rooted in the essential dignity and sanctity of every human life—life that is tragically assaulted by every bullet that tears through human flesh.
One practical and compelling step in reducing gun violence is gun control, as the bishops have written:
We support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulations of handguns.[3]