Gun Violence

President Joe Biden on Sunday marked the sixth anniversary of a gunman's deadly attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue and called out what he called an “appalling surge of antisemitism” amid the war in Gaza.

"Once again, we implore elected officials to work together, regardless of political or religious affiliation, to enact laws and provide services that will prevent the repetition of such tragedies," the bishops said..
 

Commentary: It was puzzling to see President Trump claim his support of access to guns should endear him to Catholics specifically. The widespread ownership and use of guns in the U.S. go directly against respect for life.

Perspective: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seems to care more about negotiating economic deals with Russian-linked companies than putting forth meaningful gun reform.

Security experts say Catholic institutions can implement safety measures that enhance Catholic values — like warmly welcoming the stranger who walks into Mass or even knowing how to tend to the wounded.

August volunteers had just arrived in El Paso to support Annunciation House's ministry to refugees, including its shelter a few miles away from the Walmart where the shooting took place.

Theology en la Plaza: We write en conjunto, united in prophetic rage and graced by the resilience of nuestra gente, paying critical attention to the role of the incendiary language that fueled the latest destructive incarnation of hate in El Paso.

Faith Seeking Understanding: In the wake of the horrific mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, it occurs to me that, when it comes to guns, the United States collectively behaves in a way that mimics an addict in denial.

Distinctly Catholic: There is much work to be done by U.S. citizenry, all of it coming back to a simple proposition: When will we be so fed up with the killings that we demand action?

We say: When a mass murderer uses the same language as the president, it becomes a moral issue. This time is different, and church leaders should recognize it.

The commonness of mass shootings in the U.S. may inspire desensitization, but Catholics say they are not giving up on confronting the seeming inevitability of gun violence.

"Once again in our nation we see the face of evil," Bishop Mark Seitz said. "... We see the effects of the sinful and insipid conviction that some of us are better than others of us because of race, religion, language or nationality."

Signs of the Times: I am afraid that others may soon respond to mass shootings that same way I do, the same way we do to other gun violence — ignore it and move on. No matter how horrible something is, if it is repeated time and time again, we get accustomed to it.

Pope Francis joined other Catholic Church leaders expressing sorrow after back-to-back mass shootings in the U.S. left at least 29 dead and dozens injured in Texas and Ohio Aug. 3-4.

As gun violence continues to take thousands of lives each year, Catholic activists urge a denouncement of American gun culture from the church across the board, laity and clergy alike.

Hundreds of protesters led by Chicago priest Fr. Michael Pfleger and anti-gun activists filled a major Chicago highway for about an hour July 7 demanding that officials stop gun violence in the city.

United in safety: Working with Harvard public health researchers, the Utah Sports Shooting Council, the state's most powerful pro-gun group, advocated to include suicide prevention training in Utah's required one-day course for people seeking a conceal-and-carry permit. This unusual collaboration marks a growing trend.

"The most important element is creating a culture that cares deeply about keeping a community safe," said Phil Andrew, the Chicago Archdiocese's new director of Violence Prevention Initiatives, at a ceremony to dedicate a new Catholic Charities facility in the part of the city with the highest rate of homicides. 

NCR Today - An editorial, newly updated after the mass shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, haunts me as I imagine the survivors of violence that mostly did not have to happen.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich called on Illinois legislators to pass a bill that tightens restrictions on gun shop owners and helps stem the flow of illegal guns into Illinois.

NCR Today: While bishops express alarm and side with some aspects of gun control, grassroots congregants have reason to believe Christian teachings support gun ownership and use.

NCR Today: Gun rights advocates' rejection of common-sense steps to reduce gun violence and their attacks on teenagers are ultimately about protecting gun manufacturers' profits.

Catholic students were among the organizers of more than 800 sibling marches to the national March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. Senior Tyler White, who helped planned Portland's march, said "I was ignited."

Simply Spirit: "Every single one of you has a light and a fire inside of you that nobody has the right to put out. ... We are leaders and we are all capable of amazing change."

In 1966, Thomas Wenski was an altar server at the funeral for the University of Texas tower shooter. Decades later, Wenski, now an archbishop, presided at the funeral mass of a Parkland shooting victim.

March for Our Lives: The Washington, D.C., march organized March 24 by students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the Feb. 14 mass shooting there drew hundreds of thousands of people.

NCR Today: The March for Our Lives is the latest in a youth-led movement for gun reform in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. NCR will be bringing you news from around the nation. Keep checking this page for updates.

From Where I Stand: The tradition of marching on Washington, D.C., to express political and social opinions is being carried on by our nation's young people, whose demands are for gun control to stop the kind of shootings that killed 17 people Feb. 14 in Parkland, Florida.

We say: In early March, Florida passed a red-flag law, which was part of the demands of the students mobilized by the shooting deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. If a gun-friendly state like Florida can pass this legislation, so can others.

I asked my students to reflect on the country's gun mania. Their answers spoke volumes about the anxieties of their daily lives.

Archbishop Robert Carlson says there is no reason for anyone to own an assault weapon like the kind used in the recent Florida school shooting, though hunting is a different issue entirely.

Thousands of students in the U.S. exited their classrooms Wednesday, marking the one-month anniversary of the Feb. 14 massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

A newly hired chief financial officer of a Catholic university outside Miami resigned Tuesday after uproar over her recent appointment to the board of the company that manufactured the weapon used in last month’s mass shooting at a Florida high school.

Commentary: We are plagued by a fabricated myth that somehow supplying our communities with guns is going to make crime go away. We need to talk about our values, and where we put our money.

"The idea of arming teachers seems to raise more concerns than it addresses," said the heads of two committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

We say: Young people have the freedom to be single-minded, and we agree with them that it's time to find solutions to the pandemic of gun violence that plagues our nation.

As high schoolers lead the push for gun control, among more than 100 bills idling on Capitol Hill are efforts to expand background checks, restrict some guns, and regulate flamethrowers.

The voices of student survivors of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, "are a wake-up call that should have been heard years ago," Chicago archbishop says at Illinois state capital as he calls for action on gun legislation 

Distinctly Catholic: We Catholics bring our prayers and beliefs to these horrific mass killings, but we bring much more to the effort to keep future such killings from happening.

About 1,000 Catholic school students took action Wednesday in Ft. Lauderdale, on behalf of the 17 people killed by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland, Florida. 

Just Catholic: Dear Parkland students — You're right, of course. It has to stop. 

We say: Those opposed to gun violence must emulate the gun lobby. Numerous organizations are working against gun violence — many of them interfaith and bipartisan. We urge you to find a group that suits your particular interests and join it.

We say: Common-sense regulation of gun sales and ownership is an issue of life, and Catholics must fight against the culture of gun violence that pervades our nation.