Scripture says to speak for those who cannot, like the 17 massacred in Florida

The scripture tell us, “Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” The 17 people massacred in a Broward County high school in Florida last week cannot speak for themselves. We must speak for them.

The children massacred at the Sandy Hook Elementary school cannot speak either, nor can the teenagers gunned down at Columbine High School or the college students slaughtered at Virginia Tech or the young adults murdered at the Pulse Night Club or the concertgoers in Las Vegas or the martyrs at Mother Emanuel AME Church or Zaevion Dobson or JaJuan Latham or many others who never make the headlines in a society where we have become numbed to gun violence. We must speak for them.

There is an old activist saying, “I’d rather be a guardrail at the top of the hill than an ambulance at the bottom.” We need responsible public policy. We need more guardrails and fewer ambulances.

Eighty-six percent of Americans believe that universal background checks are the responsible thing to do. Eighty-three percent of Americans agree that preventing people with prior violent crime convictions from obtaining guns is the responsible thing to do. Seventy-six percent of Americans believe that requiring gun owners to have a license in the same way automobile drivers do is the responsible thing to do. It is time to stop listening to well-financed lobbyists and reclaim government of the people, by the people and for the people.

We need more guardrails and fewer ambulances.

We are told to focus on protection, not prevention. However, the armed security guard at my high school was killed with his own weapon. A theater manager who is a member of my church was shot with an armed security guard standing right next to her. A police officer, the stepmother of a church member, was gunned down by an assault rifle while she was wearing a bulletproof vest. We need prevention and not just protection.

After a violent massacre we are told it is “too soon” to talk about responsible public policy, when in fact it is too late. We must act before the next tragedy. We need new laws that will prevent someone from firing 600 rounds per minute into a concert crowd, church, nightclub, high school or elementary school.

You may wonder why clergy would speak out on this issue. The reason is simple. We are the ones who do the memorial services. We comfort the grieving family. We minister to the traumatized communities. We are the chaplains at the bottom of the hill. That’s why we know we need guardrails at the top.

On July 27, 2008, a man opened fire in my church in the middle of a children’s play, "Annie Jr." Two people, Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger, were killed. Eight others were injured. All of us were traumatized. Had the man had an automatic weapon like the Florida school shooter, the carnage would have been far worse.

It has been almost 10 years since that shooting. Today I am mindful of the mothers who pushed their children down to the ground, protecting them with their bodies. I am mindful of the men who rushed the gunman and tackled him, preventing further loss of life. I am mindful of the children in the play who surprised us all with their resilience when the very next day they stood up at the end of a healing service and sang, “The sun will come out tomorrow.” Today we, too, must be brave. There are far too many who cannot speak for themselves. We must speak for them.

Chris Buice is pastor of Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville.