J. Herbert Nelson Responds to Shooting at the Navy Yard, Spanish translation

For the statement in English, please click here. 

Nos Mantenemos Comprometidos con la Erradicación de La Violencia Armada

17 de Septiembre, 2013 

La Oficina de Testimonio Público (OPW) en Washington, DC de la Iglesia Presbiteriana USA (PCUSA) está entristecida por la muerte de 13 personas (incluyendo al disparador) ayer en la instalación militar “Washington Navy Yard”. Nuestras sentidas oraciones y pensamientos están con las familias que sufren esta pérdida. La Escritura nos recuerda, que si vivimos, vivimos para el Señor y si morimos, morimos para el Señor (Romanos 14:8).  Oramos por cada persona y por nuestra nación con la creencia de que nuestro Señor y Salvador Jesús Cristo prometió que no tendríamos que encarar este momento solos. 

Los Estados Unidos de América está en necesidad de leyes lógicas para el control de armas. Una vez más recordamos que nuestra nación esta tristemente atrapada por la cultura de la violencia. Cada día, ocho niños muren por violencia armada en los Estados Unidos. Nuestras calles, escuelas, cines, concentraciones políticas, lugares de trabajo, y lugares de adoración no son lugares seguros. Pero esto no tiene que ser de esta manera.

Nuestra oficina continúa comprometida con la defensoría profética en relación a la implementación de una ley lógica para el uso de armas que 1) prohíba la venta de armas de asalto 2) elimine la compra de armas por medio de terceras personas 3) convierta el tráfico de armas en un crimen federal 4) requiera una revisión universal de record criminal para toda compra de armas. Como presenciamos ayer, somos vulnerables en todas las facetas de nuestras vidas. Incluso un lugar de trabajo militar armado y seguro, donde militares y civiles trabajan juntos buscando la protección de los ciudadanos de este país, es vulnerable a las armas cuando están en las manos equivocadas. 

Juntos, podemos hacer una diferencia y salvar miles de vidas. Llame al Presidente  y a los miembros del Congreso hoy. Dígales que aprueben una legislación que reduzca de manera significativa la plaga de la violencia armada en esta nación. 

Yo les hago un llamado para que tomen este asunto seriamente en sus comunidades locales. La violencia armada puede ser reducida si tenemos la voluntad de responsabilizar del bien común a los oficiales electos.

En la fe que compartimos, 

J. Herbert Nelson, II

"El Reverendo J. Herbert Nelson, II, es el Director de la Oficina en Washington DC de Testimonio Público de la Iglesia Presbiteriana USA (PCUSA)"

The Gun Violence Prevention Debate is NOT Over!

Yesterday, Senate consideration of amendments to S. 649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013, failed.  The Senate declined to take any action, either to strengthen or weaken the bill, in a stunning act of political cowardice. 

The Office of Public Witness had expressed concern over the gun bill debate, urging the Senate to do better, and we continue to believe that common-sense gun regulation is not only possible, but absolutely essential to the life and health of our nation.

To read our statement from Wednesday, April 17, the day of the Senate gun violence debate, visit our blog.

Send amessage now to your members of Congress – they must do better!

Gun Proposals Fall Short of Common Sense Measures to End Gun Violence

Notice: if you are viewing this blog post after April 17, 2013, please take action here, instead of the link below - this action alert has been updated to reflect the Senate's stunning failure to accomplish even partial gun violence prevention legislation.

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Do Our Legislators Remember the Virginia Tech Tragedy?

Gun Proposals Fall Short of Common Sense Measures to End Gun Violence 

                                                                             

Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. As our Senate prepares to debate and vote on a new proposal aimed at reducing gun violence, we must evaluate whether this proposed bill honors the integrity of voters’ call for gun laws that save lives. Send a message to your Senators today!

Today, the Senate will begin consideration of nine amendments to the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013 (S. 649).  This underlying bill includes provisions for universal background checks, but political calculations show that it will not pass without some changes.  Of those proposed changes, most common in the media and conversations today is a proposed bipartisan amendment offered by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), which, if approved, would essentially replace the underlying bill.  The Manchin-Toomey amendment, as it is called, requires background checks at gun shows and for internet sales, but not for other private sales. We thank Senators Manchin and Toomy for their efforts to propose a compromise bill while working in a bipartisan manner. It is not often that we see this type of cooperation across the aisle on Capitol Hill. However, this amendment fails to go far enough toward achieving legislation that will effectively reduce gun violence.   

Background checks proposed in this amendment are far from universal. The policy approved by the 219^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2010, entitled Gun Violence and Gospel Values calls for (a) limiting legal personal gun acquisition to one handgun a month; (b) require licensing, registration, and waiting periods to allow comprehensive background checks, and cooling-off periods, for all guns sold; and (c) closing the “gun show loophole” by requiring background checks for all gun buyers.

The Office of Public Witness is concerned that the weakened background check proposal in the Manchin-Toomy amendment does not adequately address our denominational policy position. Under the proposed bill, private sales of firearms at gun shows and websites require background checks, but other types of sales are not addressed.  Therefore, unregulated sales can occur in homes, on street corners, among friends and family members, in work places, through newspapers, and other means. Given the highly favorable polling data that indicate that nearly ninety percent of persons in the United States support universal background checks, it is appalling that our political leaders feel that a compromise on this important issue is needed at all.

Some proposed amendments, however, would strengthen the bill, including one offered by Senator Feinstein (D-CA).  Her amendment would ban certain assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, while trying to close some of the loopholes in the now-expired assault weapons ban, which was in effect 1994-2004.  Another amendment, offered by Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Blumenthal (D-CT), is a slimmed down version of Senator Feinstein’s assault weapons ban, and would ban magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.  To read about all nine of the proposed amendments, see this blog post by the Washington Post.

All nine amendments, including Manchin-Toomey, will require sixty votes to pass, and the likelihood is very high that the bill will be weakened, not strengthened through the amendment process. There comes a time, in evaluating a bill, when we have to decide about compromise – is this the best we can do and should we accept it?  Well, this may be the best that Congress thinks it can do, but it is not.  Barring major and unexpected amendment votes, this bill will not be the bill we need.  It is not adequate nor is it justice.

We are calling upon members of the PC(USA) to send a loud message to our Senate that the Manchin-Toomey proposal is not adequate to address the epidemic culture of violence that leads to more than 30,000 gun deaths per year in the United States.    

Yesterday, Director for Public Witness, J. Herbert Nelson said,

J. Herbert Nelson visits Virginia Tech Memorial

“My last visit to Virginia Tech was less than two months before the Newtown shooting. I engaged in discussions with three campus ministry groups regarding the then upcoming Presidential election. Before leaving the campus, my wife and I visited the memorial dedicated to the students and faculty members killed in the April 16, 2007, campus shooting. It was a sobering moment. Prayerfully, I thought of the parents, as I remembered the deaths of children who were sent to college for an education, but instead lost their lives in a senseless massacre. Tears came to my eyes as I stood over the memorial space dedicated to Liviu Librescu, a 76-year-old professor who lost his life while barricading the classroom door to save the lives of his students.  He survived the Holocaust, but could not escape an angry kid with a gun on a university campus in the United States. The personal stories of tragedy continue for the families of the thirty-three people killed that day, including the family of the gunman. There are no words to fill the void or heal the pain that the families of these persons and others feel.

“Even now the killing continues. Over 30,000 persons are killed by guns each year in the United States. Since the Newtown shooting in December, 2012, over 3,000 persons have been killed in the United States due to guns. Our culture of violence permeates every facet of our society. Despite these gun deaths our political leaders choose to water down legislation, catering to the perceived power of pro-gun lobbyists, including the National Rifle Association. We need common sense gun laws in this nation! We need courageous political leaders! It is time that we begin to hold these elected officials accountable for the promises they make to serve the best interest of the country.

“I encourage you to write, call, email, tweet and/or text your Senator and tell them to pass strong legislation that will include 1) truly universal background checks, 2) stiffer federal gun trafficking laws and 3) a ban on assault weapons. Click here to write them now.         

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Notice: if you are viewing this blog post after April 17, 2013, please take action here, instead of the link below - this action alert has been updated to reflect the Senate's stunning failure to accomplish even partial gun violence prevention legislation.  

A Call to Reduce Gun Violence

LENTEN PETITION CALLING FOR COMMON-SENSE MEASURES TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons (and daughters) of God.

- Matthew 5:9

The 219^th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted the resolution, Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call, in exercise of its responsibility to help the whole church address matters of “social righteousness.” The resolution calls both the Church to support and the federal government to establish laws that will prevent and reduce gun violence. The PC(USA) recognizes the seriousness of gun violence in the United States, where more than 30,000 lives are lost each year due to firearms.  We call on all people to conscience to make earnest strides to challenge the pervasive culture of violence that permeates our social fabric.

Sign our Lenten Petition in favor of common-sense federal measures to reduce gun violence.

During this Lenten Season we are joining other faith groups in prayerful engagement and direct action to reduce our culture of violence and to bring peace to our homes, streets, and public venues. Our role as Christians is to be peacemakers. Peace is more than the absence of conflict.  Peace requires our active participation in the work to serve the common good. Making peace often stirs controversy, because it requires engaging in faithful witness on behalf of Jesus Christ, despite the resulting discomfort. Peace exposes human frailty and sin in order to make repentance possible. Jesus affirms that his presence and teachings in the world will create division among those who are closest to him (Matthew 10:34). Therefore, the gospel is a double edged sword that evokes unrest while creating a platform for peaceful reconciliation.

As we journey together through this period of spiritual discipline and contemplation, while also experiencing gun-related grief and trauma in our communities and nation, let us remember that New Life awaits us on Easter morning. 

This petition, calling for common-sense federal measures to reduce gun violence, is one small piece of a larger strategy to address the culture of violence that pervades our nation.  We will deliver this petition to Congress during Eastertide.  Sign it now!

As you move through your Lenten discipline, make this petition – signing it, circulating it, inviting your friends and congregation-members to sign it – one of your personal commitments.  In addition, try these other action steps toward raising awareness and reducing violence and poverty in our nation.

1. Pray for our President and the United States Congress as they struggle with the issue of gun violence.
2. Encourage your Pastor(s) to preach sermons, teach bible studies, and become involved in the efforts to change our culture of violence and to eradicate gun violence in your local community.
3. Host a screening of TRIGGER: The Ripple Effects of Gun Violence, the PC(USA) documentary on eradicating gun violence. Hold congregational and community discussions in your house of worship.
4. Participate in a Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath Weekend, March 15-17. 
5. Write and/or call your Congresspersons and the President each week during Lent stating your support for federal legislation to reduce gun violence. (See the requested actions outlined in the petition). To find contact information for your Members, click here.
6. Read the gun violence policy of the PC(USA) - Gun Violence and Gospel Values: Mobilizing In Response to God’s Call
7. Register and make plans to attend Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day (CPJ) and Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) in Washington, DC, April 5-8, 2013 (attend both events in one weekend) to receive training in how to become an advocate for justice issues.

The PETITION

As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and people of faith and conscience, we believe that God desires health and wholeness for all of God’s children – not cycles of despair, poverty, and violence.

We therefore believe that we have a responsibility to reduce such injustice in our midst, wherever we see it.  We therefore call upon the United States Senate and House of Representatives to approve federal legislation that will --

Reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 – banning all assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Assault weapons are weapons of war and have no place in the hands common citizens. Most mass shootings in this nation involve such weapons.

Require universal background checks when purchasing any firearm. Many states do not require background checks, making it simple to acquire a gun for persons with criminal records, persons who do not know how to handle a gun, or persons who suffer from mental illness. Guns only belong in the hands of those who know how to handle them with correct intention.

Make gun trafficking a federal crime. Currently, gun trafficking is prosecuted under a statute that prohibits selling guns without a federal license. This crime carries the same punishment as trafficking chicken or livestock.

Sign this Petition here.

Please forward this petition to friends, church members, organizations and/or other persons and institutions.

Post cards are available for large groups and/or congregations who desire to collect many signatures at once (such as church coffee hour).  Please contact our office at ga_washington_office@pcusa.org to request petition post cards. 

INTERFAITH FAITH CALL-IN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE

Monday, February 4 - National Faith Call-In to Prevent Gun Violence

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC is working with an Interfaith Group of Organizations to encourage the United States Senate and House of Representatives to enact gun legislation that will reduce and prevent gun violence in the United States.

 

National Call-In Number

Faiths Calling – Interfaith Call-in to Prevent Gun Violence – February 4^th
www.faithscalling.org 1-888-897-0174
Text "FaithsCalling" to 877877 for a reminder message

Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress.

Call your Senators and Representative and insist that they act to prevent gun violence.

We know that among millions of you in the faith community there are differences in viewpoint and we ask you to convey whichever policies with which you are comfortable. The major components of legislation that Congress is considering are listed below. When you call your Senators and Representative, let them know that you are calling as a member of the faith community, and emphasize those of the policies which you support.

• Require universal background checks for all gun purchases
• Ban semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
• Make gun trafficking a federal crime
• Improve access to mental health services

Tell them that gun violence prevention laws work.

We need your support on this important issue!