Recognizing the escalation of violence in our world, and especially its impact on women and children, we choose to act with diligence in the pursuit of peace and non-violence.
We need look no further than the daily news to be confronted by the devastating effects of gun violence on our society. When a headline grabbing mass shooting occurs we are all impacted by the heartbreaking news. However many more people we may never hear about are also the victims of gun violence.
- More than 30,000 Americans are killed by homicides, suicides and incidental killings each year.
- Another 70,000 are injured by firearms annually.
- One child or teen dies from a gun every three hours and 18 minutes, making gun violence the second leading cause of death in youth ages 1-19.*
As the epidemic of gun violence in the United States continues to escalate, movement on meaningful gun violence prevention policy continues to be either slow or non-existent. In many cases the nationwide trend has been toward weaker gun laws.
* These statistics are from the Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
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IHM Reflection and Action