Just Thoughts--A Call for Common-Sense Gun Safety Measures

[Krista Zivkovich wrote this "Just Thoughts" column; it will appear in the October 25th bulletin of St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio.]

Just Thoughts:

Faith Communities Calling for Common-Sense Gun Safety Measures

Our Catholic Bishops have long called on Congress to pass basic laws that would almost certainly cut down on the amount of gun violence in our country. The life of each  person God has created is precious to Him, and as individuals living in community with each other, we have a duty to respect the dignity and value of each life and to do what is within our power to protect the lives of His beloved people.

Many people have said, and rightly so, that laws alone will not prevent the kind of mass shootings to which our country is becoming all too accustomed.  However, many reasonable people agree that some common-sense measures will help to curb this plague of gun violence.

As you have probably heard or read often, the United States has more incidences of gun violence than any other developed country in the world. Following the December 2012 killing of 27 first graders and teachers in their classroom in Newtown, Connecticut, many Americans believed that Congress would act to pass basic gun safety measures.  In June another mass killing took place in Charleston, SC as members of AME Emanuel church gathered to pray and study Scripture in their church. Gun violence resulting in multiple deaths continued this summer around the country in a movie theater, an Army recruiting station and on live television. Gun violence touched our own parish family and last month took the life of a 5 year old Cleveland child while he played in his yard.

The Catholic Bishops have sent statements and letters to Congress urging them to pass gun safety measures. But has each of us made that same demand of our elected representatives?   Let us, members of the St. Mary faith community, join our voices together and call for changes in the gun safety laws. The Lake/Geauga Diocesan Social Action Commission has written a petition calling for the same 4 gun safety measures called for by the U.S. Bishops.  This weekend after each Mass, the petition will be available to sign in the Good Shepherd entrance. The petitions will be forwarded to our representatives in Congress and in Columbus.

The petition can also be found on the Catholic Charities website: Link to the petition. Or cut and past this address into your browser:

http://cqrcengage.com/ccdocle/app/sign-petition?2&engagementId=124658

A Little Poem Remembering the Slaughter at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church

O America! Land of the Gun

(in memory of the slaughtered at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, June 17, 2015)

O America! Land of the Gun

I weep for thee

and all thy murdered children,

mothers, grandmothers,

fathers, sons, and daughters.

Your flaw is a knife wound

deep into this heart.

Your sin could be healed,

If you only had the will.

Bob Coughlin / June 18, 2015



[I know this poem is a bit odd. I begin using the older words "thee" and "thy" because this part of the poem reminds me of prayers and hymns written in that old voice. I was also thinking of Walt Whitman's use of those words--and Allen Ginsburg. Then I switch gears and use the more modern words "you" and "your(s)." I'm speaking more directly, in a more modern voice here. Another switch I made was from the language of guns to the image of a knife. That was certainly on purpose. I thought how guns are not the only instruments of murder; you can kill with knives and fists too! But guns are the main weapons of mass murder in America. And guns are easily available to anyone--from psychopaths to murderous haters. The end of the poem uses religious terms ("sin" and "healing") and implies that things can be done to change this situation, but the will doesn't seem to be there.]