Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

One Year After Sandy Hook, Interfaith Effort Pushes Senators on Gun Checks

An interfaith telephone effort in support of increased background checks on gun purchases is being held on the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Jewish groups from the major denominations are among the 45 faith-based organizations participating in Faiths Calling, in which callers contact their senators on Friday in support of the Manchin-Toomey background check compromise.

The proposal by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) calls for the expansion of background checks to include commercial sales, as well as sales at gun shows and on the Internet. It also strengthens the existing system by encouraging states to put their records in a national system.

“When 30,000 Americans are killed each year by gun violence, we recognize our moral obligation to speak out,” said Rachel Lasser, deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, a leader in the calling effort. “Over the course of the past year, Americans from a vast array of faiths and traditions have joined together in calling on the Senate to pass gun violence prevention measures.”

Along with the Religious Action Center, other Jewish organizations participating include the American Conference of Cantors, American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, Bend the Arc, B’nai B’rith International, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Jewish Council on Public Affairs, Jewish Women International, National Council of Jewish Women, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Rabbinical Assembly, Reconstructionist Rabbinic Assembly, Union for Reform Judaism, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and Women of Reform Judaism.

Earlier this year, the participants placed 10,000 calls against gun violence to their senators.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.