Gun Violence Prevention Lenten News for Congregations

Gun Violence Prevention News for Congregations Lent 2023 Why Mass Shootings? This newsletter is being written in Orlando, FL, a city, like so many others, now traumatized by a mass shooting. So far, there have been 92 mass shootings this year.* From Feb. 17-19, on one weekend, there were ten mass shootings, with over 50 victims, many of them children. We know that most gun violence consists of suicide, domestic violence or conflicts grown violent. However, mass shootings and school shootings impact us differently, as everyone in the community and beyond is left fearful and traumatized.     Why is this happening? It is happening because the gun industry has vigorously sought profits by inundating the nation with handguns and semiautomatic assault weapons. They drive these sales by convincing us that more guns will maker us safer. That is a myth. The reality is that more guns lead to more gun violence, including mass shootings. With over 400 million guns now in private hands, we are well on our way to half a billion guns in the United States. With insufficient regulation to keep this flood of guns out of the hands of those who are danger to themselves or others, we are drowning in a sea of easy access to guns. *The nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more persons are killed or injured, not counting the shooter. There are other causes of mass shootings, but the easy access to so many guns is the uniquely American crisis. How can the church help heal and change us? Please see action suggestions below for a time of mass shootings. 1. Focus on the victims and survivors •Pray for victims and survivors by name. Hold a moment of silence in worship. •Create a poster for church members to send messages of support. Mail it to a Church near the mass shooting. •Honor photos and stories of victims on your church Facebook page. See sample HERE from New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. •Find vigils, prayers and other worship and action resources in the Congregational Gun Violence Prevention Toolkit under "Pastoral Resources" HERE. Photo: The Soul Box Project uses art to show the human face of lives taken by gun violence 2. Advocate for change: • Learn HERE how legislative action such as comprehensive background checks and regulating assault weapons could prevent mass shootings and other gun violence. • Join the Gun Sense Action Network HERE to become a citizen advocate for change. 3. Take Direct Action to Prevent Gun Violence •Gun Safe Storage: Most young mass shooters take unsecured guns from homes of friends or family. Provide free gun locks as a service to your community. Order Gun Safe Storage information cards HERE from God Before Guns in Ohio. •Guns to Gardens - Join this growing movement to keep unwanted guns from being used, stolen or going back into the gun market where they could do harm. See below!!! Guns to Gardens Spring Action Circle March 2-30 Five spots still open! These one hour Zoom sessions will introduce your congregation to Guns to Gardens, including safety, logistics, publicity, pastoral care and best practices for planning your own Guns to Gardens ministry. The Action Circle gathers folks from churches across the nation every Thursday for one hour at 12:30 ET on Zoom. Register Here June 10 National Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender Day If your congregation is planning or considering a "Safe Surrender" Guns to Gardens event on or near June 10, please let us know HERE. There will be a Guns to Gardens "tune up" Zoom call on Thurs. April 13 at 12:30 pm ET for all 200 graduates of past Action Circles. Watch for link to register. Denver participants in the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship's Guns to Gardens Action Circle training have created a new website to publicize their Guns to Gardens events. Great idea! See HERE.  Calling all Peacemakers! May 7-10 Gathering in Kansas City The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship invites you to its first in-person national gathering since before COVID. It will be held May 7-10 at the Heartland Center in Kansas City. Activists will enjoy learning, worship, action planning and community building. Gun Violence Prevention and Guns to Gardens will be a part of our experience. This is a great way to meet other Presbyterian peacemakers and learn more about PPF. Learn more HERE. Photo: The Heartland Center in Kansas City, MO Art for Gun Violence Prevention  At RFK Charter School in Santa Fe, NM, artist Pedro Reyes, second from left, worked with students to create flower vases from dismantled gun parts. The gun parts came from the Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender events of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. Learn more HERE. Can we count on you to support this Gun Violence Prevention Ministry? Please make tax-deductible gifts HERE. Gun Violence Prevention Ministry Presbyterian Peace Fellowship gvp@presbypeacefellowship.org Rev. Deanna Hollas, Coordinator 214-702-2265 deanna@presbypeacefellowship.org presbypeacefellowship.org