What about the gun?

4/26/07

“Jesus wept.” --John 11:35

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
(Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States)

Number of firearms related deaths in the United States: 29,569 in 2004
(US Centers for Disease Control)

Number of firearms possessed by civilians in the United States: 259 million--92 million handguns, 92 million rifles and 75 million shotguns
(US Department of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, 2002)

Percentage of American households that own at least one firearm: 35 percent
(National Institute of Justice, 1994)

Comparison of U.S. handgun homicides to other industrialized countries: 1998
373 people in Germany
151 people in Canada
57 people in Australia
19 people in Japan
54 people in England and Wales, and
11,789 people in the United States
(Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence)

Ten: Numbers of years assault weapons were banned for sale in the United States (this federal law lapsed in 2004 and has not been renewed)

Zero (number of federal laws that regulate the sale and transfer of guns at gun shows)

8: number of children and teens killed each day by gun violence in the United States (Children's Defense Fund, 2007)

101, 413: number of children and teens killed by gun violence in the United States since 1979(Children’s Defense Fund, 2007)

50th: rank of Massachusetts among all US states in gun deaths per 100,000 population (Centers for Disease Control, 1999)

1st: rank of Nevada

Zero: number of major bills signed into federal law since 1994 limiting access to guns (Boston Globe, April 22, 2007)

Driver’s License, Green Card, Personal check, $571: items needed under Virginia gun laws for Seung-Hui Cho to purchase a 9mm Glock pistol at a Roanoke gun shop (New York Times, April 21, 2007)

Zero: Number of new federal gun law bills introduced in the wake of the worst mass civilian shooting in the history of the United States (Boston Globe, 4/22/07)

Federal Law S.397: The "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" was signed into law in October of 2005, and prohibits victims of the gun industry's negligent practices from filing lawsuits in America's courts. No other industry in the country benefits from such special legal protection. (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence)

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The Reverend John F. Hudson is Senior Pastor of the West Concord Union Church (westconcordunionchurch.org). If you have a word you’d like defined in a future column or have comments, please send them to revjfhudson@aol.com or in care of The Concord Journal. For more “Spiritually Speaking” visit http://revjfhudson.blogspot.com.