(GunReports.com) — The national United Methodist Church didn’t just call for prayer after the recent cinema shootings. Instead, the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church & Society stepped up on the bodies of the dead and wounded in Colorado to call for a range of gun-control measures — including banning all handguns — as a result of the Aurora shooting.
James E. Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church & Society, and Bill Mefford, Director of Civil & Human Rights, General Board of Church & Society, are the signatories to an anti-gun political-action document posted on the national Methodist website.
Selected portions of the document read as follows:
“The United Methodist Church considers it a priority public health issue to prevent firearm-related death and injury. In its resolution on ‘Gun Violence,’ the denomination calls for social policies and personal lifestyles that bring an end to senseless gun violence, including a ban on all handguns.…”
“Equal to our sadness at this tragic loss of life is our disappointment at Congress’ inability to place public safety above the interests of the National Rifle Assn. Our society can no longer afford to allow the power of the gun lobby in its efforts to ensure ownership without responsibility to keep Congress mute on this pressing public-safety issue….”
“Some of the most common-sense policies that Congress could enact quickly include:
• instituting background checks on all gun sales, including at gun shows;
• limiting bulk sales of guns intended to be illegally resold; and
• reinstating the ban on sale of military assault weapons to civilians….”
Do Methodist lay people know that an aggressively anti-gun national Methodist governing body is trying to ban handguns and semi-auto rifles in response to The Joker shootings?
To see the post itself and to comment, click here “GBCS Statement on Aurora, Colo., Shootings.”
To email or call the Methodist staff regarding this statement, click here to contact the Methodist Church’s General Board of Church & Society.
