The Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral, has released the following statement in response to the NRA’s comments made in a press conference today.
“A week after the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association’s only response has been to urge Americans to put armed guards in every school,” Hall said. “That the NRA seeks to answer the problem of violence with more violence shows that their answers are directly at odds with the teachings of all faith traditions of the vast majority of people of faith in America.
“In this season when Christians celebrate peace on earth and goodwill to humankind, I call on all to reaffirm the Bible’s promise that hope and love are more powerful than fear and hate. We must urge our legislators to support a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines, and commit ourselves to improving mental health treatment and critiquing our culture of glorified violence.”
The dean’s response comes after he and the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, gathered outside the Cathedral with a group of interfaith leaders to call on religious communities across the nation to demand swift action on gun control measures and to commemorate the one-week anniversary of the Newtown massacre with the tolling of the Cathedral’s funeral bell at 9:30 am.