Words, thoughts and prayers are not enough to address the gruesome murder scene at yet another school shooting. 

Uvalde, Buffalo, El Paso, Santa Fe, Fort Hood, Sandy Hook, plus 26 other schools and 200 other mass shootings just this year.  Our state leaders’ ongoing catering to the gun lobby, with periodic “heartfelt” platitudes of sadness, is leading our state into a death spiral.  This is idolatry of the semi-automatic weapon.

We must resist becoming numb to the slaughter of our children and families.  Action is the only appropriate response. 

In the words of Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio, “People are dying! We have made guns our idols, they are sacred to the point that we don’t take measures to help avoid these situations. It’s horrible. It’s a systemic problem. So, when we say that we are respecting life, how are we going to do it in this field?” 

There are measures we can take to help prevent this carnage. But after the shootings in El Paso, Texas legislators passed six state laws that expanded access to guns. 

Rabbi David Lyon of Congregation Beth Israel reminds us of the scriptural mandate: “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds. It is our higher calling to be responsible for one another.”  

We must become a state where mass shootings are a relic of the past. 

The Texas Industrial Areas Foundation, a network of churches, non-profits, unions, foundations, and neighborhoods, publicly commits to build the power we need to make this world a reality. Our commitment is to engage communities, leaders, and elected officials around policy changes for safer communities. Texas IAF calls on the legislature to pass concrete legislation that will prevent further carnage at our schools, churches and communities. 

We cannot afford another tragedy.

The time to act is now.

The Network of Texas IAF Organizations are non-partisan, institutionally based community organizations whose purpose is to train leaders to organize families around issues which affect their quality of life. The network includes Communities Organized for Public Service and The Metro Alliance  in San Antonio, The Border Organization, Valley Interfaith in the Rio Grande Valley; TMO in Houston; EPISO and Border Interfaith In El Paso; Central Texas Interfaith; Dallas Area Interfaith; AMOS- Arlington, and the West Texas Organizing Strategy.