Shabbat Shalom.
For the past two weeks
I’ve been thinking again
About our desensitization to violence
And massacres happening in our own country.
A week ago,
In my Shabbat sermon I asked the question
Since when did the founding father’s expression
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —--
Become less important to protect
Than the second amendment to the Constitution’s
A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed.?
I believe that our tradition teaches us
That human life is priceless -
Murder is the cardinal sin of one human against the other.
If we’re permitting people to commit mass murder,
People who are not members of a militia,
Not members of a “well-regulated militia”
To purchase weapons of mass destruction
We are contributing to the sin of murder.
We are desensitized, inured,
To the violence and tragedy
Perpetrated upon innocent children, women and men;
If we were not inured
We would demand relief from this violence
By renewing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
And expanding it to include an Assault Weapons ban.
Named after James Brady, president Reagan’s Press secretary,
Who was wounded and paralyzed during
The attempt on President Reagan’s life,
When he also was seriously wounded,
It imposed background checks on handgun purchases
From licensed dealers.
It’s been 22 years since the Brady bill passed.
From the law's passage until 2009 --
the latest year statistics are available --
over 107 million Brady-mandated background checks
were conducted.
But Gun politics have changed since the passage of the Brady bill. Here are a few notable examples.
1. Now, When gun policy gets passed, it's usually about loosening gun restrictions, not tightening them.
The New York Times did a study in December 2013 analyzing gun policy since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School the previous year, a year when 71 other children were killed by gun violence. Around the country, 1,500 state gun bills were proposed, 109 became law, and 70 of those new laws loosened existing gun legislation. According to a Gallup poll from January 30, 2014, 55 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with existing gun policy.
In our own commonwealth the Republicans have proposed
Lowering the 15 day waiting period,
Passed and signed into law in Governor Ridge’s administration,
To a 3 day waiting period.
If passed this will be vetoed by Governor Wolf,
But it has been proposed.
2. 242 members of the House had an "A rating" from the National Rifle Association in December 2012.
46 senators did.
3. In 2013, a plan to expand background checks failed.
Fifty-four senators were for it, 46 were against -- and it couldn't pass without a 60-vote threshold. Only 56 senators voted yes on the Brady bill. The background checks bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), would have required checks on all commercial gun sales, and was a part of the big federal push on gun violence policy after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The president did sign 25 executive actions related to gun-violence prevention in 2013, however.
4. In 1998, gun violence was seen as the most pressing issue in the country, according to a Gallup survey.
In October 2013, 1 percent of respondents saw violence and crime as the most pressing issue in the country.
5. Opinions of the National Rifle Association are about the same as they were 20 years ago.
December 2012, Gallup
In a 1993 Gallup survey, 55 percent of the country had a favorable opinion of the NRA. At the end of 2012, 54 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of them.
6. In the 1993-1994 election cycle, the NRA spent $2.3 million.
In the 2011-2012 election cycle, they spent $24.8 million.
7. New gun-control groups are starting to spend big money, too.
Gabby Giffords, who was shot at a constituent meeting in Arizona in 2011, started Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun-control focused 501(c)4. The group raised nearly $12.5 million this year. Michael Bloomberg started Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 2006. The organization has spent nearly $2 million lobbying since its formation. According to the National Journal, "gun-control groups spent five times as much on federal lobbying in 2013 as they did the year before, but the NRA and others still outpaced them by more than 7-to-1."
8. In 1993, 34 percent of Americans thought it was more important to protect the right to own guns than control gun ownership.
Pew Research Center, December 2013
In 2013, 48 percent of Americans thought that.
9. Firearm homicides reached a peak of 17,075 in 1993.
In 2011, about 9,900 people were murdered by guns, according to FBI data. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 18,253 gun homicides happened in 1993, while 11,078 gun murders occurred in 2010.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
in 2013,
firearms were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens)
and 11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000),
21,175 by suicide with a firearm,
505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm,
and 281 deaths due to firearms- ...
10. In October 2011, 47 percent of Americans said they had a gun in the home -- the highest number since 1993.
11. Things that didn't exist in 1994 that politicians have to think about now: online gun sales, 3-D printing and smart guns.
When I returned home from Wednesday night’s Board Meeting
And saw the sit-in taking place on the floor
Of the House of Representatives,
I appreciated how far the abyss had opened up
Between those who truly, honestly and religiously believe
That the right of people to Life, Liberty
And the Pursuit of Happiness is paramount
And those who believe
That the right to bear arms is paramount.
I believe we are in a very sad state of affairs.
Guns have become our society’s new fetishes, our new idols.
Assault Rifles are the Venus DeMilos,
The preferred, highest valued fetish objects,
Valued Over life itself.
We have run amok of basic religious principles.
In Judaism Life is infinitely valued,
Infinitely treasured,
To be Nurtured at the expense
Of almost all other things.
Talmud Torah Kineged Kulam;
Jewish Education is fundamental to a meaningful, examined life.
We must get back on track,
And I don’t know how.
But I believe the first step is
To challenge our legislators
To work on protecting the living
As passionately as they do the unborn;
To work on protecting me and my family
As passionately as those who seek to purchase
Handguns and assault weapons,
To work on protecting those who worship in this synagogue
And all other houses of worship
As passionately as they protect themselves;
To work on protecting our children as they are learning and playing
As passionately as they protect themselves;
To work on protecting our citizens
As passionately as they protect themselves.
I believe a society that becomes inured to violent acts,
To mass murder and terrible tragedy
Is on the verge of collapse.
This cannot be what the framers of our constitution wanted.
This cannot be what we want.
Shabbat Shalom.
For the past two weeks
I’ve been thinking again
About our desensitization to violence
And massacres happening in our own country.
A week ago,
In my Shabbat sermon I asked the question
Since when did the founding father’s expression
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —--
Become less important to protect
Than the second amendment to the Constitution’s
A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed.?
I believe that our tradition teaches us
That human life is priceless -
Murder is the cardinal sin of one human against the other.
If we’re permitting people to commit mass murder,
People who are not members of a militia,
Not members of a “well-regulated militia”
To purchase weapons of mass destruction
We are contributing to the sin of murder.
We are desensitized, inured,
To the violence and tragedy
Perpetrated upon innocent children, women and men;
If we were not inured
We would demand relief from this violence
By renewing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
And expanding it to include an Assault Weapons ban.
Named after James Brady, president Reagan’s Press secretary,
Who was wounded and paralyzed during
The attempt on President Reagan’s life,
When he also was seriously wounded,
It imposed background checks on handgun purchases
From licensed dealers.
It’s been 22 years since the Brady bill passed.
From the law's passage until 2009 --
the latest year statistics are available --
over 107 million Brady-mandated background checks
were conducted.
But Gun politics have changed since the passage of the Brady bill. Here are a few notable examples.
1. Now, When gun policy gets passed, it's usually about loosening gun restrictions, not tightening them.
The New York Times did a study in December 2013 analyzing gun policy since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School the previous year, a year when 71 other children were killed by gun violence. Around the country, 1,500 state gun bills were proposed, 109 became law, and 70 of those new laws loosened existing gun legislation. According to a Gallup poll from January 30, 2014, 55 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with existing gun policy.
In our own commonwealth the Republicans have proposed
Lowering the 15 day waiting period,
Passed and signed into law in Governor Ridge’s administration,
To a 3 day waiting period.
If passed this will be vetoed by Governor Wolf,
But it has been proposed.
2. 242 members of the House had an "A rating" from the National Rifle Association in December 2012.
46 senators did.
3. In 2013, a plan to expand background checks failed.
Fifty-four senators were for it, 46 were against -- and it couldn't pass without a 60-vote threshold. Only 56 senators voted yes on the Brady bill. The background checks bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), would have required checks on all commercial gun sales, and was a part of the big federal push on gun violence policy after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The president did sign 25 executive actions related to gun-violence prevention in 2013, however.
4. In 1998, gun violence was seen as the most pressing issue in the country, according to a Gallup survey.
In October 2013, 1 percent of respondents saw violence and crime as the most pressing issue in the country.
5. Opinions of the National Rifle Association are about the same as they were 20 years ago.
December 2012, Gallup
In a 1993 Gallup survey, 55 percent of the country had a favorable opinion of the NRA. At the end of 2012, 54 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of them.
6. In the 1993-1994 election cycle, the NRA spent $2.3 million.
In the 2011-2012 election cycle, they spent $24.8 million.
7. New gun-control groups are starting to spend big money, too.
Gabby Giffords, who was shot at a constituent meeting in Arizona in 2011, started Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun-control focused 501(c)4. The group raised nearly $12.5 million this year. Michael Bloomberg started Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 2006. The organization has spent nearly $2 million lobbying since its formation. According to the National Journal, "gun-control groups spent five times as much on federal lobbying in 2013 as they did the year before, but the NRA and others still outpaced them by more than 7-to-1."
8. In 1993, 34 percent of Americans thought it was more important to protect the right to own guns than control gun ownership.
Pew Research Center, December 2013
In 2013, 48 percent of Americans thought that.
9. Firearm homicides reached a peak of 17,075 in 1993.
In 2011, about 9,900 people were murdered by guns, according to FBI data. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 18,253 gun homicides happened in 1993, while 11,078 gun murders occurred in 2010.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
in 2013,
firearms were used in 84,258 nonfatal injuries (26.65 per 100,000 U.S. citizens)
and 11,208 deaths by homicide (3.5 per 100,000),
21,175 by suicide with a firearm,
505 deaths due to accidental discharge of a firearm,
and 281 deaths due to firearms- ...
10. In October 2011, 47 percent of Americans said they had a gun in the home -- the highest number since 1993.
11. Things that didn't exist in 1994 that politicians have to think about now: online gun sales, 3-D printing and smart guns.
When I returned home from Wednesday night’s Board Meeting
And saw the sit-in taking place on the floor
Of the House of Representatives,
I appreciated how far the abyss had opened up
Between those who truly, honestly and religiously believe
That the right of people to Life, Liberty
And the Pursuit of Happiness is paramount
And those who believe
That the right to bear arms is paramount.
I believe we are in a very sad state of affairs.
Guns have become our society’s new fetishes, our new idols.
Assault Rifles are the Venus DeMilos,
The preferred, highest valued fetish objects,
Valued Over life itself.
We have run amok of basic religious principles.
In Judaism Life is infinitely valued,
Infinitely treasured,
To be Nurtured at the expense
Of almost all other things.
Talmud Torah Kineged Kulam;
Jewish Education is fundamental to a meaningful, examined life.
We must get back on track,
And I don’t know how.
But I believe the first step is
To challenge our legislators
To work on protecting the living
As passionately as they do the unborn;
To work on protecting me and my family
As passionately as those who seek to purchase
Handguns and assault weapons,
To work on protecting those who worship in this synagogue
And all other houses of worship
As passionately as they protect themselves;
To work on protecting our children as they are learning and playing
As passionately as they protect themselves;
To work on protecting our citizens
As passionately as they protect themselves.
I believe a society that becomes inured to violent acts,
To mass murder and terrible tragedy
Is on the verge of collapse.
This cannot be what the framers of our constitution wanted.
This cannot be what we want.
Shabbat Shalom.
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