Please call your state legislators and ask them to oppose H.134, which would allow conceal-carry permit holders to bring handguns into church-affiliated schools.
Parents, teachers, principals and pastors oppose allowing firearms because of the danger of leaving these weapons unlocked and unguarded, or having them firing accidentally. In one instance in Texas last January, a person who brought a gun to a church was disarmed and the gun used to kill him and injure others. In other instances, “good guys” with guns accidentally shot people they were trying to help or innocent bystanders.
In an FBI study of 160 active shooter incidents from 2000 to 2013, only one was stopped by an individual with a valid firearm permit.
Gun violence is a pro-life issue which affects the United States much more than any other developed country. From 30,000 to 40,000 Americans die by firearms each year and many more are injured. We need universal background checks with no loopholes, a ban on assault weapons for civilians, and “red-flag’’ laws to keep firearms from felons, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, but we need to honor them with action, too.
Janet Zaccarelli lives in Mooresville.
I begin by stating unwaveringly: I do not agree with or condone abortion.
Yet I would like to point out that in his 2013 apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium,” Pope Francis stresses the importance of mercy and everyday acts of holiness over a narrow focus of judgment or spiritual worldliness. He condemns those “who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules or remain intransigently faithful to a particular Catholic style from the past” (94). He repeats this warning in his 2018 apostolic exhortation, “Gaudete et exsultate.”
Opposition to abortion is a very important aspect of our Catholic faith. It should not be used as a wedge issue or replace a wider concern for social justice. We were not created to be single-issue Catholics. Life in the womb is sacred, just as is life outside the womb.
Jane Francisco is a member of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte.