A West Virginia bishop called for state residents to unite in prayer after last week’s school shootings in Texas. But a statement from the bishop went on to urge more than prayers and offers of support.
“We must encourage concrete action in the hopes that never again are school children the target of these heinous acts of violence,” stated Bishop Mark Brennan of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese.
The next day, the bishop went on statewide radio and expanded on what he meant by concrete action. “The governor should call a special session of the Legislature to ban assault weapons. That’s a start,” Brennan said on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
The bishop pleaded, “Governor Justice, call a special session of the Legislature to address this issue. Because what happened in Texas two days ago could happen in West Virginia, just as easily.”
Mark Brennan, Wheeling-Charleston Diocese Bishop, is calling for a special session to ban assault weapons following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Bishop Brennan joins @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/NK1cUa0jrE
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) May 26, 2022
Several days following the bishop’s call to action, there is no apparent groundswell of support.
Governor Justice’s administration said last week that he has been ill and that once he recovers “he will address the tragedy in Texas and all related matters.” Senate President Craig Blair and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, both Republicans, have not responded so far to the bishop’s comments.
Generally, West Virginia’s Republican-led Legislature has advanced legislation to loosen the state’s gun laws.
Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, objected to the bishop’s comments. McGeehan drew on his masters in philosophy from Franciscan University in shaping his own comments. He’s working on his doctorate from Duquesne and noted that both schools are Catholic in tradition. He cited philosophies of the theologian Thomas Aquinas.
“A higher power removing the capacity of lower powers — such as families or localities — to protect themselves is a violation of the principle of subsidiarity,” McGeehan said. “This is regardless of intentions, since the higher power of the state here would be acting both outside its own authority, as well as outside of its own competence. for Aquinas, that is a form of tyranny.
“Now it would be difficult to believe that the bishop is unfamiliar with this, since the church itself operates in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. Either way, this points to the imprudence demonstrated with the bishop’s knee-jerk reaction — for only a fool wouldn’t realize that what the bishop is urging would lead to widespread domestic conflict. In other words, the bishop’s foolish proposal would create more violence than he intends to resolve.”
National debate over gun safety was renewed after a spree of mass shootings, most recently the killings of nineteen elementary school students and two teachers in Texas.
The gunman in Uvalde, Texas, bought a semi-automatic rifle from a local sporting goods store the day after turning 18, authorities said. He returned days later to buy 375 rounds of ammunition and then an AR-style rifle.
The mass shooting in Texas was just a little more than a week following another where 10 people were killed in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. The shooter there, also 18, used a Bushmaster XM-15, purchased from a gun store. A background check apparently came up clean even though the shooter had been ordered to take a psychiatric evaluation almost a year ago.
Some states with Democratic majorities are moving toward increased gun safety measures. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy is pushing for passage of several gun-control proposals including requirements to pass gun safety classes to buy firearms in that state, requirements for storing guns, banning future sales of .50 caliber guns and raising the age limit to buy guns from 18 up to 21.
Across the nation, discussions have included additional support for mental health services, support to ensure entrances to schools are limited, red flag laws allowing temporary removal of weapons from people representing a danger to themselves or others, raising the legal age for gun purchases, banning high-capacity magazines or expanded background checks.
“What I find astonishing is that the bishop doesn’t stop to ask the more fundamental questions, like what exactly is causing so much violence in society? Why are so many young people committing such atrocities? What is leading to these results?” McGeehan said. “This lack of driving to the core of the matter is odd, especially for a man who is charged with caring for the souls of our people.”
Brennan’s initial statement made reference to several of those other societal issues. But the bishop concluded that when everything else goes wrong — when young people are driven to act on rage — it’s too easy to gain access to powerful, efficient weapons to kill.
“It is obvious that mental health issues, unchecked anger, and rage are part of the problem and can lead to people committing unspeakable acts of evil and violence, and we must address these issues, but it is equally apparent that those perpetrating these terrible atrocities are able to do so because they wield powerful weapons that are able to kill and maim dozens of people in just seconds,” Brennan stated.
“We must do more as a society to limit the availability of these types of weapons; especially to those whose sole purpose is to use such weapons to commit atrocities against our brothers and sisters.”
In 2019, shortly after mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, respondents to a question about regulating semi-automatic guns were almost evenly divided, according to the MetroNews West Virginia Poll.
Semi-automatic guns fire a bullet each time the trigger is pulled and also perform all the steps necessary to prepare it to discharge again.
Participants in the survey were asked, “Are you for or against a law that would make it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess semi-automatic guns, known as assault rifles?” The poll showed that 53 percent responded that they are for such a policy while 47 percent would be against it.
Delegate Chris Pritt, R-Kanawha, told West Virginia’s Nexstar stations that he doubts there’s support for a special session on gun safety.
“Well, I don’t think that’s very likely to happen, given the makeup of the Legislature. I don’t think there’s going to be a real strong desire for us to be tackling gun control in a special session,” Pritt said.