Call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
The Episcopal Public Policy Network has a page you can use to write your member of Congress and Senator, calling for an immediate ceasefire, free flow of humanitarian aid, and release of hostages. You can easily edit the letter.
Ask Congress to approve $300 million for USAID global nutrition account
As we watch in horror, children are dying of hunger in Gaza, but we are not helpless. The ecumenical advocacy nonprofit Bread for the World asks you to write your member of Congress to sign on to a bipartisan letter calling for Congress to invest $300 million to meet the critical need for food aid. Citing famine in Gaza, Yemen, Sudan, and Afghanistan, they say that malnutrition causes nearly half of all preventable deaths in children under five, and quote UNICEF’s estimate that almost 45 million children worldwide are malnourished.
Ask Ohio House Speaker to assign gun safety bills to committees
Dr. Amaraiah McIntosh of the Ohio Council of Churches quotes Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to take action to prevent violence, and provides a list of gun safety bills that have been introduced in the Ohio Legislature but are languishing, not yet assigned to any committee. These include universal background checks (HB 419) and restoring rules for carrying concealed weapons (HB 418). She asks us to call House Speaker Jason Stephens to assign them so hearings can begin. His number is 614-466-1366.
Moms Demand Action Legislative Advocacy Day on gun safety May 22
If you are concerned about gun violence in your community, please register for the statewide advocacy day on May 22 at the Statehouse, to meet with members of the Ohio House of Representatives. Click here for information about the bills which will be the focus of the advocacy and the agenda for the day.
Episcopalians from both the Diocese of Southern Ohio and the Diocese of Ohio attended a Statehouse summit earlier this year where the sponsors of these bills described their proposals. Panelists included law enforcement officials, judges, and mental health specialists explaining the impact on domestic violence, child mortality, and public safety of the dismantling of gun safety.
ATF announces new rule closing loopholes on background checks
Implementing provisions of the 2022 bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the ATF has issued a final rule defining which gun dealers must get licensed to sell guns and run background checks. The rule goes into effect 30 days after its April 10 publication in the Federal Register. “Under this regulation, it will not matter if guns are sold on the internet, at a gun show, or at a brick-and-mortar store: if you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit, you must be licensed, and you must conduct background checks,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This regulation is a historic step in the Justice Department’s fight against gun violence. It will save lives.”
“The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act enhanced background checks and closed loopholes, including by redefining when a person is ‘engaged in the business’ of dealing in firearms. Today’s rule clarifying application of that definition will save lives by requiring all those in the business of selling guns to get a federal license and run background checks — thus keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “I applaud the hard work of ATF in drafting this rule and reviewing the hundreds of thousands of public comments, which overwhelmingly favored the rule announced today. Because of that work, our communities will be safer.”
Steven Dettelbach, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is a lawyer from Ohio.
Advocacy updates are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com.
