CHICAGO - Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, saying it is
time to "take meaningful and swift action to address violence
in our society," called for stricter gun control laws in
Illinois.
"Recently, the city of Chicago adopted a tough ordinance to
tightly regulate gun stores here. I applaud Chicago's
leadership for taking this important step to protect our
children and families," Archbishop Cupich said in a
commentary published Oct. 9 issue in the Chicago Tribune.
"For this measure to truly be effective, however, the General
Assembly must pass a similar law, especially considering how
many guns are sold in gun shops located outside of Chicago,"
he added.
"Let's be honest. The Second Amendment was passed in an era
when organized police forces were few and citizen militias
were useful in maintaining the peace. Its original authors
could not have anticipated a time when the weapons we have a
right to bear now include military-grade assault weapons that
have turned our streets into battlefields," Archbishop Cupich
said.
"The Second Amendment's original intent has been perverted by
those who, as Pope Francis recently commented, have profited
mightily. Surely there is a middle ground between the
original intent of the amendment and the carnage we see
today," he added, noting that during the pope's address Sept.
24 to Congress, many "stood ... to applaud Pope Francis' call
for an end to the weapons industry that is motivated by
'money that is drenched in blood.'"
Archbishop Cupich called the combination of a ready supply of
firearms, the glamorization of crime, "a society where life
is cheap" and untreated mental illness "a recipe for
tragedy."
He cited the Oct. 1 massacre at Umpqua Community College in
Oregon, where nine people were murdered and another nine
wounded because the victims had "the misfortune of simply
being at school," as well as "nearly a dozen" who had died
from gun violence in the Archdiocese of Chicago in a recent
two-week stretch, as well as "those injured, maimed and
traumatized ... simply too many to count."
Among those wounded, Archbishop Cupich said, were "10- and
11-month-old infants. Princeton Chew, the 11-month-old, will
not remember his grandmother or his mother, who both died in
the Back of the Yards (a Chicago neighborhood) shooting. He
will never know the brother or sister his mother carried."
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for
"reasonable regulation and controls for guns, especially
handguns," as well as a ban on assault weapons.
"After the 2012 murders of 20 first-graders and six staff
members at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school,"
Archbishop Cupich said, "the USCCB sent testimony to Congress
the following year. 'This is the moment,' said the USCCB
spokesperson who testified before Congress, 'to push for
better gun controls. We want to build a culture of life and
confront the culture of violence.'
"That moment," Archbishop Cupich added, "came and went
without meaningful action."
He said, "It is no longer enough for those of us involved in
civic leadership and pastoral care to comfort the bereaved
and bewildered families of victims of gun violence. It is
time to heed the words of Pope Francis and take meaningful
and swift action to address violence in our society. We must
band together to call for gun control legislation. We must
act in ways that promote the dignity and value of human life.
And we must do it now."