Is it possible to  imagine ways to prevent gun violence?

Has Newtown opened a door for new opportunites?

Has the shooting of first graders changed the conversation?

What can be done so we aren’t such a violent society?

Maybe one of the simple things we can all do is rid our language of “violence.”

Think of all the phrases we use…trigger an idea…he jumped the gun…shot down…stick to your guns…blast off…

on a hit list…a scatter shot approach…I dodged a bullet…sure shot…she blew me away…and on and on.

Perhaps that can’t help anything, but it certainly won’t make anything worse.

Harder to do, but necessary in the long run are things to reduce violence:

• high capacity assault ban renewed

• more thorough background checks

• make gun trafficking a federal offense

A number of folks at our church had the privilege of meeting with Rev. Dr. J Herbert Nelson, the Director of the Presbyterian Church (USA) office of Public Witness in Washington DC. We talked about violence in our society. We did not deal with the question of appropriate gun control. We have also been studying America and Its Guns, a Theological Expose by James E. Atwood.