Dear St. Paul Community UMC,

In the wake of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, I am sending letters to my Representatives in Congress. As a gun owner, I am asking them to do more to protect our children from violence.

Because of our nation’s differences over guns, we find ourselves in gridlock and nothing changes. We can throw up our hands in futility and do nothing. Or we can ask our legislators to address the root causes and develop better strategies to decrease the chances of school shootings and other acts of violence.

Attached are two letters I have sent to my representatives. I am providing my letter as an example that you are welcome to send to your representatives at the federal level. The specific suggestions contain ideas that have been adopted by other United Methodists:

 

2.  Copy the text of the letter below and paste it into an email.
3.  Address it to your representatives by name, sign your name at the end, and send it.
   4.  Feel free to modify the letter so that it represents your views.

This past weekend, mass shootings in multiple cities killed eleven and wounded more than sixty. Not a single week in 2022 has passed without at least four mass shootings. I invite you to join me in encouraging our federal legislators to do all they can to reduce these incidences of violence.

Thank you for considering this action.

David Wells
Senior Pastor

SAMPLE LETTER

 

You likely know that since January 1, 2022, twenty-seven shootings have occurred at schools across America. Some were suicides. Some were children who accidentally discharged guns, and some were teens who took their guns to school with the intent to kill.

 

Congress has united around solving major problems in the past. I am pleased that your bi-partisan support for Ukraine is helping Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression. Likewise, I applaud Senator Chris Murphy and other members of Congress in their present efforts to reduce school shootings. Therefore, I ask that the following measures be considered.

Research Funding Focused on Reducing Violence Committed by and against Children:

• Please increase funding for research at the federal level on causes of and actions that can reduce violence committed by young adults against children and teens.

  Licensure & Training: Permit laws are the single most effective way to reduce gun violence. States with permit laws of any kind have less gun violence than those without.

• Please provide incentives to states where permit and training laws already exist, and to those where they are expanded or are enacted.

  Background Checks: Strengthen background checks through private party sales, on-line sales, and gun shows, while ensuring that all guns can be traced through serial identification.

• Please establish processes and upgrade technology to help states share this information seamlessly and quickly to maximize public safety.