Friday, June 3, 2011

Heeding God's Call Is Aiming at Realco Guns


The local chapter of Heeding God’s Call—a national gun violence prevention campaign—is inviting residents of the Greater Washington Area to participate in a "public witness" at Realco Guns (6108 Marlboro Pike in District Heights, Maryland) on Monday, June 6, from 5:00 – 6:00 PM. An interfaith movement comprised of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others will call on Realco—the leading supplier of crime guns to the District of Columbia and Prince George's County in Maryland —to implement business practices which would prevent straw purchases and other illegal gun sales.

The Greater Washington Area Chapter is the most recent addition to Heeding God’s Call, a faith-based, grassroots movement which has publicly pressured gun stores in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Harrisburg to adopt better marketing and distribution safeguards. The chapter has tried (unsuccessfully) on several occasions to arrange a meeting with the owner of Realco Guns, Carlos del Real, to discuss the possibility of his store implementing a 10-point Code of Conduct called the “ Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership.” The code includes several voluntary safeguards to prevent illegal sales; such as videotaping gun purchases, conducting background checks on store employees who handle firearms, and maintaining a database of purchasers whose guns ended up on crime scenes.
I'm not completely sold on the idea of using religious arguments either for gun rights or against. But, I'm pretty sure whose side Jesus would be on.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

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