U.S. Catholic Magazine: A Catholic case for gun control

[UrbScotty]

In 2002 Frederick Booker called his mother, Charlene, in tears, saying, “Mommy, somebody shot Charlie and he’s dead.” Booker was referring to his 19-year-old brother, who had been killed by a bullet to the head in Washington. This past May Charlene Booker received another call, this time telling her that Frederick, now 29, had also been killed in a shooting. Both of her children had been lost to gun violence—something no mother should ever need to endure.

Legislators, faith groups, pundits, and the general public are grappling with how to reduce gun violence in this nation, and a number of possible solutions have been proposed: universal background checks, laws to curtail gun trafficking, and a ban on assault weapons and large magazine clips. All of these proposals receive much opposition; the divide on what to do is a serious dilemma. Most people agree that better support for mental health would be acceptable. However, there is controversy surrounding how this would be implemented.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus tells us to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as ourselves, and to do unto others as we would have others do unto us. These words portray a reality that is starkly different from what we witness in our society. Violent language and actions are now always present in the media—movies, television shows, and video games are filled with them. Just count the number of guns you see any evening on TV.

Opponents of gun control argue that “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” That is true. However, guns do increase the capacity for killing. And frequently in cases of gun deaths, there would not have been a death had there not been a gun. A heated argument, an incident of stalking, a domestic dispute, a suicide attempt, a crime—each of these situations becomes more lethal with the presence of a gun.

http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201309/catholic-case-gun-control-27893#sthash.geinThWo.dpuf