Preventing Gun Violence

Preventing Gun Violence is increasingly a matter of urgency. This week The Right Reverend James E Curry, Bishop Suffragan (retired) of The Episcopal Church in Connecticut, who has been leading the Episcopal Swords to Plowshares initiative (www.episcopalct.org/news/swords-to-plowshares/) is sending us this call to action.

“Dear friends,

Too often I have stood with the families of victims of gun violence at the site of their loved ones’ death. Last Monday I stood and prayed with the mother and family of Randell Jones, Jr., a three year old who was shot and killed as he sat in the back seat of his mother’s car on the corner of Garden and Nelson Streets in Hartford on April 10. This shooting and our continued inability to stop gun violence is a heartbreaking tragedy and a national disgrace. 27 years ago, Marcelina Delgado, a seven year old sleeping in the back seat of her father’s car was shot and killed just outside her grandmother’s apartment in Hartford. 27 years ago, Marcelina’s death should have moved us to change our culture. It didn’t. We owe Marcelina and Randell a pledge to do everything we can to address the epidemic of gun violence. Enough is enough.

I need your help to get Connecticut to do more to address the crisis of urban gun violence, which disproportionately impacts communities of color. With gun homicides in Connecticut up 50% last year, there's an urgent need to put more resources into community-based violence prevention programs. These strategies have a proven record of reducing the gun violence that's taking so many young lives in Connecticut.

I just contacted Gov. Lamont and my state legislators asking them to launch the CT Initiative to Prevent Community Gun Violence. I'd be grateful if you could do the same.

The CT Initiative is a proposal by CT Against Gun Violence to establish a state-level grant-making authority tasked with funding and implementing evidence-based, community-centric, programs and strategies to reduce street-level gun violence in Connecticut’s larger urban centers. It's modeled after similar programs in other states.

Please click this link to send Gov. Lamont and your two state legislators an email asking them to make the CT Initiative a reality: http://cagv.salsalabs.org/create_community_gv_commission/index.html?sl_tc=at

Thanks for using your voice to help save lives!

Peace, Jim

The Right Reverend James E Curry
Bishop Suffragan (retired)
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut”