Friday, July 29, 2011

Heeding God's Call rally and peace march

Nearly one hundred people rallied in Harrisburg, Pa., Friday afternoon, July 15, 2011, to express their strong feelings of putting an end to violence in their neighborhood. The rally and peace march were organized by Heeding God's Call, a group of churches uniting people of faith in the sacred responsibility to protect our brothers, sisters, and children. This march was a vigil and a rallying cry to stop gun violence, just one day after 18-year-old Keion Gooding was shot and killed outside his Harrisburg home.

Belita Mitchell, pastor of Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren, is active in Heeding God's Call, one of whose primary objectives is to ask gun shop owners to sign a code of conduct suggesting a few extra steps of precaution to eliminate the straw sale of firearms. Straw sale is buying handguns in bulk and selling them to people who would not be able to pass a background check. Individuals and congregations active in Heeding God's Call unite to bring God's vision of a peaceable kingdom, without the violent loss of over 30,000 American lives by gunfire each year, embracing Dr. Martin Luther King's hope for peace and safety in our communities.

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