"Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence: Protecting Our Communities While Respecting the Second Amendment" from the USCCB 

 Read "America and Its Guns: A Theological Exposé" by James Atwood

 See the film "TRIGGER: The Ripple Effect of Gun Violence"

Read and share this "Call To Action in Response to Newtown Tragedy" from 3 U.S. bishops

Pax Christi USA joined the Children's Defense Fund earlier this year in acting to prevent gun violence

December 13, 2013

Tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 14th, marks the one year anniversary of the shootings of the schoolchildren and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. 

    Since that time, over ten thousand people in the United States have been killed by guns and many more Americans have died by gun shots of all types -- self-inflicted accidents, suicides, etc. Among these many deaths are children and others in the inner cities each day, dying one by one, by the epidemic of gun violence. Each day, more people die from gun violence in this country than died together on that one tragic day in Sandy Hook Elementary School. 

   Please mark this one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting with prayers for all involved -- the automatic gun manufacturers and their advocates, all of the victims of gun violence and their families and friends, as well as all the people working to stop domestic gun violence in our country. Please also take action. We must form a national movement to overcome the NRA and its industry backers.

    Pax Christi USA offers you the following Prayer, Study and Action ideas to help you remember with us the senseless and unnecessary deaths of so many.

     At the School of the Americas Vigil in Columbus, GA, PCUSA Executive Director Sister Patty Chappell and Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Kathy Kelly led the annual Friday evening workshop titled "Gun Violence Has No Room in the Spirituality of Peacemaking". Much of what follows comes from that event. 

In peace,

Sr. Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN

Program Director, Pax Christi USA

Robert Cooke

Pax Christi Metro D.C.-Baltimore and Heeding God's Call member

PRAY: Gun violence - for justice's sake,

we must do more

STUDY: Fact Sheet on Gun Violence

ACT:  Four actions to prevent gun violence

It is imperative that the people of the United States take action to show Congress and powerful gun advocates that the majority of us are for common sense laws to curb gun violence. A movement of people must be formed to let our lawmakers know that we will not continue to allow gun violence to claim the lives of tens of thousands of people in this country each year. The politicians need to know that Pax Christi members and their allies will follow the nonviolent Jesus of the gospels and work against violence at all levels.

Action #1: Today, Friday, Dec 13th, is the Interfaith Call-in Day to End Gun Violence. Click here for a phone number and short script to use to get in touch with your Members of Congress. 

Action #2: Have your parish or religious community join the National Gun Violence Sabbath Weekend. The weekend takes place on March 13-16 this year. Click here for more information. 

Action #4: Consider joining or forming a Peace Team in your city to help with nonviolent means of curbing violence in your city, town or neighborhood, e.g. unarmed street monitoring, trainings in restorative justice and nonviolent conflict intervention, peace education, etc. For more information, contact Pax Christi member Eli McCarthy at esm52@georgetown.edu. You can  click here to find out more about the DC Peace Team. To find out about the national network of peace teams, click here.