Diocesan 1975 and 1996 Convention Resolutions on Guns

Taking note of the number of "gun-inflicted killings" and the "impossibility of relying on local gun control laws" given the flow of handguns across state lines, Convention in 1975 called upon Congress "to enact legislation to control the manufacture, importation, sale, interstate and intrastate shipment, ownership, possession, registration, and use of all guns, parts and ammunition." In 1996 Convention affirmed and supported "the continued ban on sales and importation of assault weapons, parts, and ammunition."

Communications Contacts

Mr. Nicholas Richardson

Director of Communications, Editor, Episcopal New Yorker

Office: 212-316-7520
Fax: 212-932-7323
nrichardson@dioceseny.org

Mr. Andrew Gary

Assistant to the Chief of Finance and Operations, Communications & Editorial Assistant

Office: 212-932-7322
Fax: 212-932-7323
agary@dioceseny.org

Bishop Urges Support for Sensible Gun Laws

June 17, 2016

In an email message sent to the people of the diocese today, Bishop Dietsche urged recipients to contact their U.S. Senators to encourage their support for sensible gun legislation in the wake of the Orlando shootings. The message was as follows:

My Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing to you to invite your encouragement of our United States Senators to support the “No Fly, No Buy” legislation that will likely be before them this coming Monday.

Following the Newtown shootings, the State of New York adopted some of the most sensible gun laws in the country, protecting the right of responsible citizens to own guns for sport and protection, with appropriate checks and registration, and with the strictest ban on the sale or possession of military-style weapons and assault rifles. Yet so many other states do not have similar legislation, which means that people everywhere remain endangered. It is clear that only action on the federal level can begin to move our country back from being a place in which gun violence and mass murders are simply taken for granted, and where we are regularly confronted with the horrors of Newtown, Charleston and Orlando.

It may be that this week’s tragic killings have changed the climate in which this legislation will be considered. I urge you to contact Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to voice your support. It doesn’t matter that we already know that they favor these measures – in the larger political climate which moves and motivates legislation in Washington, D.C., the number of emails and phone calls and faxes that they receive really does matter.

You may contact the Senators’ offices by following these links:

https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck

Let them know that you support legislation that will:

Make it illegal for people convicted of violent hate crimes to buy or possess guns
Make it illegal for suspected terrorists to legally buy guns
Require a background check for every gun sale, no matter where you buy a gun or who you buy it from.

These sensible measures cannot prevent all acts of violence, but they can provide necessary helps to law enforcement, and have the potential to limit the number of victims of these assaults. With every good wish, I remain

Yours,

The Rt. Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche
Bishop of New York