Persistence: Needful in Faith and Advocacy -- Essential for Gun Violence Prevention

July 2004

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:1-8)

Why isn't anyone listening? Don't politicians know that assault weapons are killing people -- police officers and children among many others? Isn't it clear that these weapons aren't really for hunting? They're of military design and purpose. Why are terrorists trying to get these things at U.S. gun shows? What would a civilian do with these weapons? These are the questions and remarks made by an overwhelming majority of people that I talk to about the assault weapons ban due to expire September 13, 2004.

For the last few years, advocates and grassroots stakeholders -- along with a few elected officials -- have foretold with dread and concern of the soon-coming expiration. Among this group, women have raised consistent voice and effort against the violence and death enabled by the use of assault weapons.

The Million Mom March; Sarah Brady (along with husband, Jim Brady, the press secretary wounded during an attack against President Reagan); doctors and nurses; teachers; Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Boxer (D-CA), Clinton (D-NY), Mikulski (D-MD); Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY); mothers, aunts, grandmothers and widows have pleaded with policymakers -- over and over again, year after year -- asking for their help to stop gun violence. They gain no cooperation, no results.

Maybe it's cynical, but one might believe that politicians try to wait these women out -- hoping that they will stop pleading, simply go away or prove not to have enough political clout. But thus far, women have not given up. Their struggle has resonance with biblical narrative.

Christ calls us to live, affirm life and exist with a profound sense of power and purpose. Jesus desires us to be focused on the kingdom of God -- its reign of peace. We are not to be dissuaded, not to lose heart. He holds up for us the example of the widow.

She is someone who is not well-regarded by society or those in power -- persons who make decisions that affect her life. She is in a city -- a place of many voices, agendas and principalities that by their nature often work against her. But the city is also a public arena. Perhaps her effort will gain the attention of others.

She has to deal with an indifferent, unrighteous judge in a class-divided system of justice. The judge -- it's explicitly stated -- is neither accountable to human relationships nor to God. He repeatedly says, "no" to the widow. But she keeps coming back.

As with our contemporary situation, many may encounter indifference, unfairness and disdain from those who exercise authority over us. Yet, they are charged with executing justice (Proverbs 29: 2,4).

The widow is clear regarding what she wants and needs. She plainly asks for justice. Her heart is steadfast, relentless.

The judge recognizes that the widow does have power, at least the power to bother him and wear him out. Commentators who delve into this passage state that the Greek word for "bother" is associated with the meaning to "hit in the eye."* Maybe the widow's cause is in some sense righteous. Perhaps she is close or angry enough to give the judge a black eye. If there are others present, heeding her case, public embarrassment might have grown for the judge. His disdain, prejudice and annoyance work against him. Initially, he chooses to deny her, discount her. Might it have been easier to grant or give her what she requested and needed?

The parable conveys the recognition of some critical elements. Even if we don't know or can't determine, God knows the heart of rulers and judges. And God knows that poor and disenfranchised people deal with unfair, unresponsive or oppressive systems. However, it's important to watch how authorities act and react. Note what they say, it may be telling. In the face of this, there may be some action we need to do. Further, circumstantial or providential occurrences can override the stubborn heart and the poor motivation on the part of authorities.

Those who are despised or held in low regard -- like the widow -- are chosen (loved) ones of God. Such people may have and use a life of prayer -- communion with God. God will move to secure justice for them. It takes faith to prevail. Faith is a "day and night" operation. God hopes to find such faith present. That is the way things change, even with human stakeholders and those with power.

Questions for Reflection

• The public gets alarmed when gun violence affects a community. Is there some way the political system is responsible if the ban expires or is not eventually improved?
• Can we identify and empathize with those who receive indifference and injustice from authority? Luke 18:9 warns us: "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt." What is our role, our responsibility?
• Can we find ways to support those who speak up against gun violence?
• Would refraining from the ownership of assault weapons and curtailing their production be worth some measure of public safety?
• Could we persevere as the widow did for causes of justice? How would you act or speak up?

Gun Violence Can Happen in Anyplace, at Anytime, But Actions Against It Should Occur Everywhere

October 2003

May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight (Psalms 72: 11-14).

Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place (Jeremiah 22:3).

Do authorities and citizens have a responsibility to protect the weak and needy from violence? Early this fall, those residing in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area have again faced this question.

One evening, a young child fired a semiautomatic handgun inside a Maryland home, killing a 5-year-old girl and critically wounding a 7-year-old boy. Hours earlier in a nearby town, a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl were shot and seriously wounded right outside of their home. The police do not know who fired the shots.

A week later, a mid-afternoon shootout between two youth gang members occurred about ten blocks from my daughter's elementary school in Washington. One of the young men is a model student who no one would expect to be involved in such an incident. What was alarming to many persons was the self-absorption of the two men shooting at each other, to the utter disregard of people around them (in the heart of the city). A bus was caught in their crossfire, its driver seriously wounded as a bystander.

Gun violence is not just an urban occurrence for the populace in the nation's capital. It can happen in any town.

October marks the anniversary of the area sniper shootings that affected Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Trials for both suspects are in progress. A despondent woman in Atlanta shot her mother and pastor in church. A couple was shot at an Iowa farmhouse. A trucker was shot at a traffic light in Seattle. In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a sniper's five bullets from an AK-47 killed a sheriff's deputy. Most of West Virginia remains baffled and terrorized by an uncaught sniper as well.

The common element in each of these incidents is easy access to guns. Too often officials' and public responses to these episodes are to "get tough" with the perpetrators and render harsh sentences. However, such a "solution" is after-the-fact. It does not engage the larger problem of weapons' presence in our society and homes. Firearms can only amplify violence in our communities and world.

While policies do not represent "total" solutions to the problem of gun violence, they can make important contributions. Assault weapons, such as an AK-47 banned from public access, need not be available. They really do not serve good hunting or sporting purposes. Neither should poor distribution habits of gun manufacturers nor gun sellers' failure to check the background of gun purchasers be allowed.

Congress has perennially debated how to keep homes and communities safe from guns: rejecting trigger lock suggestions, background checks of all gun transfers, safety regulation of firearms, or adequate funding or staffing the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco for gun law enforcement.

If any of these measures were established, the immediate enacting of violence through guns would be curtailed. There would be at least some delay in the harm and destruction guns convey. With a delay, there are opportunities for peacemaking.

Perhaps young children won't get hold of guns, youth won't be neglected and turn to gang-related violence, inadequate explanations won't be offered to little students, children won't fear to play in front of their homes or in streets and despondent or desperate people won't use a gun anywhere.

Questions for Discussion

• The public gets alarmed when gun violence affects the "innocent." Sometimes, people are indifferent when gun violence involves the "not-so-innocent." This piece mentions a gang incident. Are there indeed two types of victims? Do you have a different reaction to each? Does Jesus' imperative to "love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, 35) or the Good Samaritan story (Luke 10:33) offer a standard or response?
• If gun violence can spring up at anytime or place, what can we do to stop it? Are policy and laws effective against it? Should certain guns be forbidden altogether? What should public policy and action do regarding this problem (Habakkuk 1:1-4)? How can we align our concerns and actions with God's vision for peace (Isaiah 60:18, Micah 4:3-4, Zechariah 8:4-8)?
• What might be the larger picture of the problems with guns in our communities and societies? What is the smaller picture (i.e., how guns affect persons where they are)? How are the two connected? How does our longstanding convictions against war and military weapons of destruction help us here at home?
• Do urban and rural congregations experience gun violence differently? What connections can churches make to help each other? How can they foster dialogue between gun owners and those who fear guns? Consult Ephesians 2:17. What would be Christ's response to gun violence? How do we understand security through the eyes of faith? How would we engage others to look at security in fresh ways?
• "May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service" (Psalms 72:11). What can we do to spread a spirit of peace? Can such actions relate or connect with the problem of gun violence?

Lessons the Snipers Have Taught Us

December 2002

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets (Zechariah 8:4-5).

As the revision of the Washington Office Gun Violence Packet was nearing completion, two snipers had created a 21-day shooting spree in the Washington suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. Ten people were killed and three others were wounded. The alleged attackers have been linked to other shootings across the country. Violence is not merely limited to one type of community.

The sniper attacks reiterate an important question: How are we to have safety in our streets? Peace on this order seems to require unending efforts. Current events provide some things to consider:

• The sniper attacks were an uncomfortable reminder that U.S. Americans now have solidarity and can practice empathy with people in other parts of the globe (especially in a post-Sept. 11 world). We, too, are vulnerable to acts of terror. Whether it is from a distant missile or bullet, this is the way many folks die in oppressive situations across the planet - suddenly, violently, seemingly at random and senselessly. We must stop our nation's exports of weaponry or tactics that motivate such acts.
• We must ask ourselves how does our society's addiction to militarism enable such tragedies to occur? It's militarism that enables sniper culture - either through formal instruction or "civilian" training camps. Sniper or commando-chic pervades video games, media, paint-ball warfare, fascinations with SWAT (police) teams and mercenary paraphernalia with the message that it is easily to stalk and kill anonymously without direct human contact.
• The gun industry pursues niche marketing to keep sales up. Such efforts should evoke serious concerns. The Bushmaster XM15 rifle used in the sniper attacks is marketed as a "Post-Ban Carbine." It evolved from the Colt AR-15, the civilian version of the military M-16. Cosmetic changes enable it to effectively evade a 1994 federal assault weapons ban. The ban can use improvement and is due for renewal by September 2004. It prohibits the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons, characterized by a high rate of fire and military-like features.
• Assault weapons were developed for military needs - to kill rapidly and over a controlled area. Guns like the Bushmaster invade the civilian market where there is no legitimate need for such a weapon. We must ask what will it take to undo the profit motive of this market?
• The proliferation of guns will inevitably lead to more gun violence. There are nearly 250 million firearms in the United States. In 2000, nearly four million guns were manufactured. In any given year, there are 2,000-5,000 gun shows throughout the country which have a large number of unregulated sales.

Forty percent of gun sales nationwide are not background-checked. Yet checks of regulated purchases through licensed dealers have stopped over 689,000 purchases by felons. Checks prevent convicted felons, minors and other prohibited persons from buying guns. Ninety-five percent of checks are done within two hours. Most take only a few minutes.

The rifle used in the sniper attacks was one of 300 weapons unaccounted for from a large gun store's inventory in Takoma, Washington. Both snipers, one with a domestic violence restraining order and the other aged 17, would have been prohibited from any attempted legal purchase from this store. Many gun owners are law-abiding citizens. Criminals, however, turn to gun shows and private and substitute purchases to obtain their weapons.

Congress has seen repeated calls for background checks on all firearm sales and for improvement of the database of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Tragedies like the sniper or Columbine High School shootings have not successfully motivated these changes.

Implementing ballistic fingerprinting would expand the existing federal tracing system. Manufacturers would create records of fired bullets and casings from all new firearms before sale. This would enable tracing a weapon from a manufacturer to the point of retail sale. A record of purchase is kept at the point of legal sale.

Policy responses, like other efforts to end gun violence, have to complement each other. No one effort will be successful. We, the church, along with fellow neighbors, must consistently engage this challenge.

We should ask whether society's or our relationship to the recourse of violence and weapons is indeed idolatrous. Are guns our first, last or appropriate choice of defense? In the midst of a suffering world, it is not enough to avoid gun violence. We must help others, offering alternatives and countering the forces that promote violence and weapons.

Several reports indicate that the destitute sniper pair reflected a father-son relationship. The younger partner was mentored into a lifestyle of violence. We, the church, must continue to reach young people, guiding and encouraging them into the ways of peace.

The sniper incidents demonstrated that we are still a culture of fear. Television news promotional ads reminded watchers (before concluding events) that they could "count" on up-to-the-minute reports. Press conferences were held three or four times a day. Both things reflected little progress or developments. Such actions do not serve the public well. We can push for a deeper understanding that some news analyses provided.

The capture of the snipers revealed a desire for vengeance as a quick solution. News sources and several officials debated and promoted efforts of prosecution on the basis of which victimized state could best render the death penalty for the snipers. Their attacks took a tremendous toll on human lives. However, does the death penalty really offer resolution for the victims, their families or communities?

The variety of victims and circumstances associated with the sniper attacks spread feelings of insecurity far and wide. This led to disruption of school activities and other routines of life - whether it was walking, shopping or driving. Children were yet again given another reason to fear the world they live in. Teachers, parents and other adults struggled with appropriate responses and adjustments. Whole communities were virtually locked down, under siege. No one could move about without fear. Life was reordered. Yet, efforts to overcome evil with good - steps that are summoned in these moments - can bring healing and hope and start us toward recovery.

Questions for Discussion

• What is your experience with firearms?
• Do you know someone who was a victim of gun violence? What could have prevented the gun violence incident that you are aware of?
• Consider Isaiah 2:4, Ezekiel 34:25-28 and Matthew 26:47-52. How do these verses inform your faith perspective on gun violence?
• Are there too many guns in the United States?
• Some say, "An armed society is a polite society" or "Guns don't kill people, people do." Do you agree? Is this a good argument against gun control? How does this square with the Kingdom/Reign of God values that you understand?
• Why do you think the United States has higher rates of gun violence than most other industrialized countries?
• What are the current restrictions on purchasing a gun where you live?
• What present federal, state and local gun violence prevention proposals are currently being debated?