Violence erupts across the world – a shooting in a church in Illinois – a shooting rampage in Alabama - a shooting in a high school in German: over the past two days, the violence from guns floods our consciousness. One wonders – what would drive anyone to deny the sacredness of human life to the point of pushing them to pull the trigger on their weapons of death.
Surrounded by this news of violence it seems fortuitous that Bishop Desmond Tutu was in Chicago yesterday supporting Mayor Daley’s move to have new gun laws passed in Illinois. But on the same day, I heard on the news that the gun lobbyists are gathering in Washington to work toward passing laws that would be favorable to their constituents. Their argument often starts something like this: “it is not the gun that does the violence, but people.” That is a weak argument in my opinion, for without the gun the act cannot take place. I support Mayor Daley’s efforts in passing more restrictive laws and commend him for his courage in advocating for those laws.