Since at least the 1970s, The Episcopal Church has resolved to support legislation that would reduce the risk of gun violence. More than a dozen times, General Convention has urged Congress to act to restrict the ownership, sale, and use of firearms, to do all it can to prevent gun violence, to limit the availability of weapons, and to lament the lives broken and destroyed by violence. We have recognized the efforts of Bishops United Against Gun Violence, and commended the leadership of young people who desperately want to end this violence. Decades later, we see gun violence continuing on a daily basis, in communities with high rates of violence, acknowledging the disproportionate impact in communities of color and the impact of racist violence. We acknowledge the harm caused by intimate partner and family violence, the lives lost to suicide, and those terrorized by mass shootings.
We reiterate today our urgent call for legislation that will restrict who can own firearms, require background checks, eliminate loopholes, tighten laws against gun trafficking, require gun safety training, fund gun violence prevention programs, and address gun violence as a public health crisis.
In light of tragic and horrifying killings in Uvalde, Texas, we reiterate again the particular obligation we have to protect children. As expressed by General Convention in 2000, we “call upon Episcopalians to seek ways to develop community strategies and create sanctuaries for our children, so that all may come to identify and value themselves and others as the precious children of God that they are, and that they may come to know peace in their lives and to create peace for future generations.”
Prayers and Statements
Statement from the Bishop David Reed of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas
Take Action with the Episcopal Public Policy Network
Sign up for EPPN Action Alerts on Public Policy issues including gun violence prevention
Engage with Bishops United Against Gun Violence
General Convention Resolutions
2022-B003 – Advocate for the Regulation of Ghost and 3D Printed Guns
2022-B006 – Advocate for State-Level Gun Violence Prevention
2022-B007 – Advocate for Funding to Support Community Violence Intervention Programs
2018-B005 – Advocate for Study of Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis
2018-B007 – Develop a Shareholder Plan to Affect Gun Manufacturers and Retailers
2015-B008 – Support Handgun Purchaser Licensing
2015-C005 – Implement Laws to Decrease Gun Violence
2012-D003 – Declare Church Sites as Gun-Free Zones
2000-A006 – Urge Government to Prohibit the Export of Handguns
2000-B007 – Request the Removal of Handguns and Assault Weapons
2000-D004 – Express Concern About Availability of Handguns and Assault Weapons
1997-C035 – Urge Restriction of Sale, Ownership and Use of Firearms
1997-D033 – Urge Legislation on the Safe Manufacture of Domestic Handguns
1976-C052 – Urge Congress to Adopt Effective Hand Gun Control Legislation
Executive Council Resolves
EXC062017.25 – Adoption of Sandy Hook Principles
EXC022013.20 – Reaffirmation of Resolutions Regarding Gun Violence
EXC061999.19 – Response to Gun Violence