Iwas a senior when 13 students were murdered and more than 20 others wounded at Columbine High School in April 1999. Often seen as the tragic start to our modern era of mass shootings and the gun violence prevention movement, the event at Columbine spurred swift reactions nationwide, including new metal detectors and safety protocols at my Kentucky high school on the other side of the country.
In the years following, as we know all too well, mass shootings have continued at staggering rates in schools, on college campuses, in places of worship, and at public events such as holiday parades and concerts. NBC News recently reported that gun ownership is at an all-time high in the United States–52 percent of voters say they or someone in their household owns a firearm.1
Even with churches on the list of now possibly deadly locations, the Catholic Church as an institution has largely allowed gun violence prevention to be a quiet subtopic among its other pro-life advocacy. As early as 1975, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops advocated for waiting periods on gun purchases and more effective legislation around the manufacturing, importing, and sales of handguns. In 2020, the USCCB released “A Mercy and Peacebuilding Approach to Gun Violence,” where they explicitly called for a renewal of an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and supported Extreme Risk Protection Orders. These documents exist quietly under the radar for most Catholics, and gun violence prevention hardly seems an active priority for the church.
And yet the many individuals, parishes, and religious communities engaged in work to end gun violence and save lives know and profess that Catholic social teaching—with its stubborn insistence on the dignity of life, the preferential option for the poor, and the common good—demand that we all do better to protect all three of these realities.
It would be hard to argue that gun violence in the United States is not a major threat to human life and dignity. In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death for children and teens, a sobering statistic that remains true today. As of early December, 2023 saw nearly 40,000 Americans killed by gun violence and 627 mass shootings (defined by events in which four or more people were shot or killed, according to the nonpartisan data collection organization Gun Violence Archive).
1 Alexandra Marquez, “Poll: Gun ownership reaches record high with American electorate,” NBC News, November 21, 2023, https:// www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/poll-gunownership-reaches-record-high-american-electorate-rcna126037
And the numbers continue to climb. Everytown USA reports that 120 Americans are killed by guns on a daily basis, while over 200 are shot and wounded. Six of every 10 gun deaths are self-inflicted, with access to a firearm tripling an individual’s risk of death by suicide. In a tradition that places defense of human life as a preeminent priority, these senseless and preventable deaths by firearms deserve the dignity of our lament, reflection, and concrete action.
In a recent webinar, activist Shane Claiborne decried our uniquely American obsession with firearms, noting that
SIX OF EVERY 10 GUN DEATHS ARE SELF-INFLICTED, WITH ACCESS TO A FIREARM TRIPLING AN INDIVIDUAL’S RISK OF DEATH BY SUICIDE. (Everytown USA)
Christians owned more guns than any other group. “The cross and the gun give us two very different versions of power: one says I am willing to die, the other says I am willing to kill,” Claiborne said. “It is impossible to love our enemies and at the same time prepare to kill them.” Perhaps truly honoring human life and dignity looks more like connecting with our neighbors and less like stockpiling weapons for fear of them.
The common good, a Catholic litmus test for society, originates in the Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) as the “sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.” It is based on the notion that humans are deeply social beings and that our ability to participate in society promotes or hinders our full development and well-being, indeed, our God-given human dignity.
Concretely, the Catechism highlights three essential elements of the common good:
1) respect for the person, 2) the well-being and development of the social group itself, and 3) peace. As stated above, gun violence threatens individual life and dignity, but both the reality of shootings and the constant threat of violence also impede our ability as a society to strive for the common good and to fully achieve peace.
“...the reality of shootings and the constant threat of violence impede our ability as a society to strive for the common good and to fully achieve peace.”
This ideal of the common good assumes everyone deserves basic human rights and that each person is imbued with responsibilities toward the whole. On an individual level, while the Constitution, and the church for that matter, may defend responsible gun ownership as a protected right for self-defense or sport, that right cannot eclipse the rights to life and safety of other individuals and of the community. Hence, measures such as safe storage laws balance an individual’s right to own a firearm in ensuring that weapon is kept secure to prevent accidental deaths, particularly for children. Cardinal Blase Cupich, preaching after the Highland Park shooting in 2022, noted that “the right to bear arms does not eclipse the right to life, or the right of all Americans to go about their lives free of the fear that they might be shredded by bullets from weapons of war at any moment.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have rightly pointed out that our society is suffering a crisis that goes beyond firearms. In a letter to Congress following the Uvalde shooting, they write, “There is something deeply wrong with a culture where these acts of violence are increasingly common. There must be dialogue followed by concrete action to bring about a broader social renewal that addresses all aspects of the crisis” followed by a list of these ailments such as mental health, bullying, and access to firearms. In fact, the dialectical tradition in Catholic theology requires a “both/and” approach: we must certainly find ways to focus on access to deadly weapons and to attend to mental health care and undercurrents of violence in hate in our country.
If a peaceful common good is the goal, then the well-being of the most vulnerable members of society are the measuring stick for success. We have already noted that children and those with mental illness are particularly at risk, and it holds true for many of the most marginalized groups in this country as well. Women in the United States are 28 times more likely to be killed by a gun than in other comparable high-income countries, and nearly 1 million women alive today have been shot at by an intimate partner.2 Domestic violence situations quickly become more deadly when an abuser has access to firearms, which is why Extreme Risk Protection Orders, also known as red flag laws, can save lives.
These laws empower and allow law enforcement to seize weapons when there is a credible risk of violence to oneself or another, such as when an individual is subject to a restraining order. In November, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in U.S. vs. Rahimi, a case challenging the constitutionality of these life-saving laws with a decision expected in summer of 2024. Thankfully, many non-profit and faith-based organizations lent their voices to advocate for the protection of women and others vulnerable to domestic or intimate partner violence. In a culture inundated by white supremacy and systemic racism, Black, Latino/a, and Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by gun violence. The CDC reports that gun homicides are most prevalent in racially segregated neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and Black Americans are 12 times more likely to die from gun violence than white Americans. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly Black trans women, are also particularly at risk, with a record 59 deaths of transgender individuals in 2021. Again, a comprehensive and fully pro-life approach must include both common-sense gun regulations and attention to the undercurrent of hate often revealed to be a motive in mass shootings.
2 Everytown for Gun Safety, Guns and Violence Against Women (Everytown Research & Policy, 2023), https://everytownresearch. org/report/guns-and-violence-against-women-americas-uniquelylethal-intimate-partner-violence-problem/.
Even in the face of this public health crisis, there is so much work happening to save lives and change the narrative of fear and violence across our country. Working as I do with Catholic sisters, I am deeply heartened by the passion and wisdom of so many of these women and their efforts, even as I know they are not the only ones doing this advocacy.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is one such example. Sister Josie Chrosniak, HM, says that the ICCR is “engaging gun manufacturers or retail companies that sell guns in an attempt to encourage them, through dialogues and/or filing resolutions, to limit the guns that are available and to increase their use of background checks when selling a firearm.” Because congregations are stakeholders in these companies, they leverage their investing power to address gun violence when federal legislation feels futile.
Our newly formed Nuns Against Gun Violence coalition is another light. The three-pronged approach of prayer, education, and advocacy hopes to offer the thoughts and prayers echoed by so many leaders, following with concrete action lobbying legislators at the state and federal level, supporting survivors, and promoting educational opportunities. “When you look at the facts about gun violence, it becomes clear that by standing in solidarity with the victims of violence and advocating for safe gun laws, we are standing for the dignity of life and the common good of all,” says Sister Annette McDermott, SSJ “Without question, non-violence is the moral outcry all around us–we need to be a healing presence. It is who we are called to be.”
Angela Howard-McParland is a justice resource manager for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, advocating for social justice issues, including gun violence. She is also a founder of the Nuns Against Gun Violence coalition and lives in Rhode Island.
JUSTICE RISING PODCAST
Angela Howard-McParland was featured in a recent episode of Justice Rising, IPJC’s podcast See page 15.
SISTERS TAKE ACTION TO END GUN VIOLENCE
Four congregations of Catholic sisters, all shareholders in Smith & Wesson, have filed a lawsuit against the directors and officers of Smith & Wesson Brands Inc in Clark County, Nevada. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants breached their duties to Smith & Wesson by knowingly violating laws through its sale and marketing of AR-15 assault weapons, thereby exposing the company to liability. In a statement, they argue that the “company is intent on marketing and selling AR-15 rifles in whatever manner results in the most sales—even if the marketing is illegal and attracts a dangerous category of buyers, facilitates an unrelenting and growing stream of killings, and causes the company to face an ever-increasing and substantial likelihood of liability that threatens its long-term existence.”
The four congregations—including the Adrian Dominican Sisters,* Sisters of Bon Secours USA, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia,* and Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus & Mary, U.S.- Ontario Province*— also emphasize their faith-driven concern for life. They urge Smith & Wesson to return to its original ethos of responsible gun ownership and pray for an end to the gun violence that is devastating our communities. You can read the entire lawsuit at nfllp.com/cases .
* Sponsoring congregations of IPJC