God Not Guns Blog

Feb. 14 -  Five people were shot and killed and sixteen injured at Northern Illinois University. The shooter then killed himself.

Feb. 12 - a fifteen-year-old high school student in Oxnard, California was shot and killed by a fourteen-year-old student.

Feb. 8 - two people were shot and killed at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge. The shooter then killed herself.

Feb. 7 - five people were killed during a City Council meeting in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Feb. 6 - in Los Angeles, a man killed a SWAT officer and injured another after he killed three members of his own family.

Feb. 2 -a man killed five women and injured another as they were shopping in a suburban store in Chicago. Also on Feb. 2, a 16-year-old shot and killed his parents and two brothers in Maryland.

These are the shootings that made the national news. Many others did not.

As I sat in church this morning, I prayed for all who are grieving these deaths. And in the midst of my own prayer, I heard something from the pastor's prayer that has remained with me all day..."The greed of some should give way to the needs of many..."

It seems to me that we are a gun-greedy nation. There are 192 million privately owned guns in America. 65 million of these are handguns. Is our desire for guns greater than our desire for peace? Is our love of guns greater than our love for our neighbor? Does our greed for guns outweigh our need for community?

How much longer will the needs of many - for streets, schools, homes, and places of work and worship free of gun violence - be subsumed by the greed of a few who want easy access to powerful weapons?

How long O Lord, how long?