The Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning the national ban on rapid-fire rifle bump stocks is a blatant betrayal of any “pro-life” ethic the court claims to champion.
In its June 3, 2022, Letter to Congress on Gun Violence, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explicitly calls for a “total ban on assault weapons and limitations on civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines … including a ban on bump stocks.” Data show restrictions on high-capacity magazines and accessories like bump stocks can reduce the number of people killed in mass shootings by as much at 38%, and those injured by as much as 77%.
And yet America continues to worship at the feet of idols wrought of cold steel. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, reminds us, “The Second Amendment did not come down from Sinai; the right to bear arms will never be more important than human life.”
Thanks to the Supreme Court, the number of innocent people wounded, maimed and killed by gun violence will grow exponentially. Until we confront and condemn our “culture of guns,” pleas from politicians and preachers advocating a “culture of life” ring hollow.
Keith G. Kondrich
Swisshelm Park