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Learn about Youth Engagement Around Gun Violence Prevention at Biennial
Gun violence is plaguing our country and impacting the lives of so many. Each year, a gun kills nearly 12,000 Americans.
A Win for Gun Violence Prevention in Washington State!
Yesterday, along with the US Senate and House of Representative elections and numerous elections on the state level, voters in Washington state chose not to stand silently by any longer in the face of gun violence. Ballot Initiative I-594 to institute universal background checks including for private sales in Washington passed by an overwhelming majority of 59.7% while the counter-initiative that would have prevented background checks in Washington State failed resoundingly. Laws similar to this one have been passed by other states, including last year in Maryland where the new law has already led to a significant drop in gun deaths state-wide.
There’s More to Gun Violence than Mental Illness
Newtown. Aurora. Tucson. These three shootings, at an elementary school in Connecticut, at a movie theater in Colorado and at a constituent meeting in Arizona, are just a few examples of the mass shootings that have captured the media’s attention in the past few years. While the shootings have sparked discussions on gun violence in this country, they have also led to conversations about the intersection of gun violence prevention and mental illness. In each of these cases, mental illness was at one point or another discussed as a potential cause of the violent crimes committed in these three towns. Whether the shooters in these attacks were mentally ill or not does not impact the importance of keeping guns out of the hands of people with mental illness. Moreover, the focus on gun violence and mental health can be limiting.
Interfaith Initiative Against Gun Violence
The synagogue worked with other inter-faith religious groups to educate and speak out about gun control. Synagogue created interfaith group to educate community about gun control.
Shining a Light Through Our Sorrow: Two Years After Newtown
December 14, 2014 marks the second anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In 2012, 20 school children and 6 teachers were shot in the single deadliest shooting since Virginia Tech in 2007. After the Newtown shooting, the Reform Movement once again joined with the interfaith community and renewed our long-standing efforts to support gun violence prevention legislation, and provide resources and prayer services for our communities for healing. We worked tirelessly on the Manchin-Toomey bipartisan bill that proposed universal background checks for gun purchasing we were deeply saddened when Congress failed to pass that important legislation.
The Threat from Within
As the Second Amendment notes, a nation has the responsibility to ensure the security of its people. The United States is failing in that regard, but it isn't a threat from abroad that imperils us; it's a threat from within.
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs in Peril
In the United States, the number of teen pregnancies is the lowest it has been in decades. It still remains, however, the highest among the most developed countries in the world.
Prayers for Umpqua Community College
On Thursday, there was sadly another tragic shooting, this time at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.