Gun Control

WHEREAS we are heirs of a prophetic tradition which ever sought to repair the damaged

world, and

WHEREAS in our efforts to restore the world to sanity we affirm the following position

which we take knowing full well the complexity of such an issue but knowing also

that we cannot be silent,

WHEREAS we members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis have become increasingly

aware of the great loss of human life in the United States due to the proliferation

of handguns in so many sectors of our society including homes and schools, and

WHEREAS the handgun has been accurately and positively identified as the weapon used

most frequently in cases of rage and passion where one or more persons are killed

or maimed, and

WHEREAS children and young people between the ages of 1 and 19 have easy access to

guns of family and friends resulting in a mounting toll of young deaths and serious

injuries, and

WHEREAS the handgun is appearing with increasing frequency in high schools and more

and more students are killed and injured by these guns each year,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis

call upon the Congress of the United States and all state legislatures to speedily

enact such legislation as will effectively ban the sale of handguns to all citizens

except (1) the military, (2) duly authorized police officers, (3) qualified and competent

security personnel who will have possession of such handguns only in direct performance

of their duties, and (4) sports target shooters duly licensed by local authorities, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such legislation shall make provisions for collecting

and redeeming in United States currency all handguns now in possession of citizens,

aliens, residents and visitors of the United States, other than those authorized

and heretofore enumerated, namely: (1) the military, (2) police officers, (3) qualified and

competent security personnel, and (4) sports target shooters duly licensed by local

authorities, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that individual members of the Central Conference of American

Rabbis will assist and encourage organizations and individuals who are at present

and who may in the future work knowingly and diligently for such state and federal

legislation, namely to ban the sale of handguns to the general public and to collect and

redeem those handguns presently in the possession of persons other than (1) the military,

(2) police officers, (3) qualified security personnel, and (4) sports target shooters duly licensed by local authorities, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be mailed to the President and

Vice-President of the United States, that copies be made available in quantity and

that each member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis be urged to send a

copy of this Resolution to each member of the legislatures of the individual states where

the member of the Conference resides, and that the President of the Union of American

Hebrew Congregations be asked to send a copy of this Resolution to the members of

the Joint Commission on Social Action of the UAHC-CCAR seeking endorsement and implementation

of this or a similar resolution at the forthcoming Biennial Convention of the UAHC.