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Armed and dangerous

26 Apr 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The disciples were "startled and terrified" when the risen Lord stood in their midst, we read in the gospel this Sunday. Ten years after students at Colorado's Columbine High School were terrified by two heavily armed students who killed 12 fellow students, a teacher, and themselves, a survey suggests that support for stricter gun laws has diminished rather than grown in recent years, despite a steady stream of other gun massacres. For a time, the carnage at Columbine--and the ease with which the teenagers acquired high-powered weapons--seemed to usher in a new era of support for greater regulation of firearms. But in recent years support has waned. A poll released last week by CNN showed that support for stricter gun laws was at an all-time low, with only 39 percent of respondents in favor. Eight years ago that number was 54 percent. Texas lawmakers are mulling a new law that would allow college students to carry firearms on campus. Utah already makes this practice legal. Another law up for debate in Texas would prohibit most companies from barring employees from keeping guns in their cars in company parking lots. In Montana, only last-minute compromise stripped a new law of language that would have given residents the right to carry concealed weapons with or without a permit. Since 2003 at least eight states have either passed new laws giving most residents the right to carry concealed handguns or changed existing laws to make it harder for state officials to deny those permits, according to a 2008 study in the Yale Law & Policy Review. In the past couple of years another trend has taken root, too: the expansion of the so-called Castle Doctrine, a legal theory enshrined in common law. It is used to justify deadly force in the defense of one's home, although it's usually interpreted to include a duty to try to avoid confrontation if one can. Last year the Supreme Court struck down what had been the strictest gun-control ordinance in the country, the ban on handguns in murder-plagued Washington, D.C. Source: Articles by Michael A. Lindenberger for TIME and Catherine Tsai for Associated Press

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Supreme Court takes aim at gun restrictions

04 Jul 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Rejoice with Jerusalem, says the Lord in this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Isaiah, while the psalmist encourages all to “shout joyfully.” Gun-rights advocates rejoiced after a 5-4 United States Supreme Court decision restraining government limits on gun ownership. Gun-control advocates took some solace in the fact that the decision does not bar all regulation of guns. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., writing for the majority, said a right to self-defense is protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution and fundamental to the American conception of ordered liberty. Such fundamental protections, he said, limit not only federal power but also that of state and local governments. The ruling is an enormous symbolic victory for supporters of gun rights, but its short-term practical effect is unclear. The justices left for another day just what kinds of gun-control laws can be reconciled with Second Amendment protection. The majority said little more than that there is a right to keep handguns in the home for self-defense. Observers say there are two sets of laws likely to be struck down by judges as a result of the ruling: state and local gun laws that prohibit people from carrying firearms outside the home, and burdensome registration requirements. An explosion of cases likely will keep courts busy for years defining gun control’s new limits. Legal challenges already are pending against several state and big-city gun laws. Local officials around the country expressed confidence that their regulations would hold up under legal scrutiny, but many scholars were not so sure. “I think a lot of these will fall,” said Temple University law professor David Kairys, a gun-control proponent. “Can you limit people’s ability to carry concealed weapons, or open weapons? That’s noticeably absent from the majority’s list of what you can do.” On the other hand, Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law school professor who has written extensively on constitutional issues, predicted challenges to the ban on assault rifles will fail because judges will conclude that people still will be “free to have lots and lots of guns.” But he said attempts to eliminate carrying restrictions probably will fare better because gun-rights advocates can argue that their right to self-defense means that they should be able to carry their weapons almost wherever they want, with exceptions for government buildings and schools. Family Violence Prevention Fund lawyer Jennifer White said she expects stepped-up challenges to laws that seek to keep guns out of the hands of people convicted of domestic violence. “It would be a horrible danger to battered women and children if that aspect of the law is eliminated,” White said. Source: Articles by Adam Liptak for the New York Times and Mark Sherman for Associated Press

gun control guns supreme court second amendment

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Most believe guns don’t belong in church

19 Aug 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise,” the excerpt this Sunday from the Letter to the Ephesians cautions. When it comes to gun control, what is foolish and what is wise is a hotly contested question. But on the question of guns in churches, there is consensus: A strong majority of Americans across denominations don’t want them in the pews, according to a new poll.After the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado and a deadly shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Americans remain divided on gun control, but when it comes to guns in church, people of all traditions draw the line. "Although the issue of gun control tends to divide Americans by party, gender, region, and race, there is broad agreement among the public that there are some places where concealed weapons should be off-limits," said Daniel Cox, research director of the Public Religion Research Institute, which conducted the poll in partnership with Religion News Service.More than three-quarters of respondents (76 percent) said concealed weapons should not be allowed in houses of worship, compared to 20 percent who disagreed. The poll, conducted in the wake of the recent high-profile shootings across the country, shows that a slim majority (52 percent) of Americans favors passing stricter laws, while 44 percent are opposed.Among white evangelicals, support for stricter gun control is weak, at 35 percent, while among Catholics it is strong, at 62 percent. Father James Martin, S.J., who called for tighter gun control after the movie-theater killings last month, offered several reasons why U.S. Catholics may be more likely to support tighter gun control. "Catholics may congregate more in urban centers and may be more exposed to violent crimes than people in other parts of the country,” said Martin.“And Catholics might be more sympathetic to government regulation, because the church has always seen legitimate government as one way of expressing the will of the people," said Martin. What's more, he said, “there might be a slightly greater appreciation for the notion of the common good, which is enshrined in Catholic social teaching, in addition to individual rights.” Source: An article by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

gun control guns churches daniel cox public religion research institute religion news service concealed weapons james martin

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Another reason to bow your head in church?

10 Feb 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s gospel relates how crowds gathered around Jesus to listen to the word of God, just as worshippers head to churches each Sunday to hear that word proclaimed. The state of Arkansas appears to be ready to join a small group of states that allow those worshippers to bring their concealed weapons with them.Arkansas’ House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that Governor Mike Beebe is expected to sign into law. The “Church Protection Act” would allow individual places of worship to decide whether to allow concealed handguns and determine who could carry them. A handful of other states, including South Carolina, Wyoming, and Louisiana, allow guns in churches, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Nicholas Stehle, a member of the board of directors of the advocacy group Arkansas Carry, said that it was a smart bill. "It was past time for the legislature to get out of the business of our churches," Stehle said. "This pro-First Amendment bill gives churches that can't afford private security staff the ability to provide a safe environment for their congregants."Robert Klein, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, expressed concern. "I speak only for myself, but I am opposed to anyone other than trained law enforcement professionals carrying guns into a church—and with them, only when they are required to carry their weapons by their agency or are requested to do so by the congregation," he said.Klein pointed out that tensions are often high in religious communities because of life stresses. "I want to offer those who come into congregations the safety and sanctuary that has traditionally served as a hallmark of congregations," he said. "To add the uncertainty about who might be carrying a weapon into the mix is an unnecessary and inappropriate result of this legislation."In related news, data from church-violence researcher Carl Chinn shows that 75 deaths from attacks at faith-based organizations occurred in 2012—a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Chinn's tally of 135 "deadly force incidents" last year brings the total number to 638 since Chinn first began recording them in 1999. Guns were used in 389 (58 percent) of the incidents.Homily hint: Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Can church assemblies be places of peace when concealed guns are allowed? This legislation offers the opportunity to explore the Christian attitude toward violence and gun violence in particular. It also raises questions: Do guns belong in church? Are communities safer because of the presence of concealed weapons? Sources: An article by Suzi Parker for Reuters and a blogpost by Melissa Steffan for Christianity Today

guns nicholas stehle arkansas carry robert klein church violence carl chinn concealed weapons arkansas churches guns in churches

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Another reason to bow your head in church?

10 Feb 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s gospel relates how crowds gathered around Jesus to listen to the word of God, just as worshippers head to churches each Sunday to hear that word proclaimed. The state of Arkansas appears to be ready to join a small group of states that allow those worshippers to bring their concealed weapons with them.Arkansas’ House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that Governor Mike Beebe is expected to sign into law. The “Church Protection Act” would allow individual places of worship to decide whether to allow concealed handguns and determine who could carry them. A handful of other states, including South Carolina, Wyoming, and Louisiana, allow guns in churches, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Nicholas Stehle, a member of the board of directors of the advocacy group Arkansas Carry, said that it was a smart bill. "It was past time for the legislature to get out of the business of our churches," Stehle said. "This pro-First Amendment bill gives churches that can't afford private security staff the ability to provide a safe environment for their congregants."Robert Klein, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, expressed concern. "I speak only for myself, but I am opposed to anyone other than trained law enforcement professionals carrying guns into a church—and with them, only when they are required to carry their weapons by their agency or are requested to do so by the congregation," he said.Klein pointed out that tensions are often high in religious communities because of life stresses. "I want to offer those who come into congregations the safety and sanctuary that has traditionally served as a hallmark of congregations," he said. "To add the uncertainty about who might be carrying a weapon into the mix is an unnecessary and inappropriate result of this legislation."In related news, data from church-violence researcher Carl Chinn shows that 75 deaths from attacks at faith-based organizations occurred in 2012—a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Chinn's tally of 135 "deadly force incidents" last year brings the total number to 638 since Chinn first began recording them in 1999. Guns were used in 389 (58 percent) of the incidents.Homily hint: Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Can church assemblies be places of peace when concealed guns are allowed? This legislation offers the opportunity to explore the Christian attitude toward violence and gun violence in particular. It also raises questions: Do guns belong in church? Are communities safer because of the presence of concealed weapons? Sources: An article by Suzi Parker for Reuters and a blogpost by Melissa Steffan for Christianity Today

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Chicago cop faces murder charge

29 Nov 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s second reading exhorts listeners “to conduct yourselves [in such a manner as] to please God.” The conduct of a white Chicago police officer who shot a black teenager 16 times last year came under intense scrutiny this week as the officer was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the city released a video of the killing that many people fear will spark unrest. A judge ordered that the recording be made public. City officials spent months arguing that the footage could not be made public until the conclusion of several investigations. After the judge's order, the investigations were quickly wrapped up and a charge announced. Homily hint: We live in an age where people on all sides of the law seem all too ready to pull the trigger first and ask questions later. Somehow the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of the gun. Before we descend into a Wild West era we need to stop the killing and find a better way forward. Let this latest tragedy serve as the impetus for a profound change in culture. For more on the Chicago tragedy, see: Chicago police officer charged with murder in teen's death, video released

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