By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Leaders in the Episcopal church in Massachusetts have sided with the gun prohibition lobby and their allies in the Democrat-controlled Legislature who are battling to protect the state’s restrictive gun control law from repeal via a hard-fought voter referendum which will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
According to the New Bedford Light, “A ‘no’ vote would repeal the law, while a ‘yes’ vote would uphold it.”
The Episcopal News Service (ENS) is reporting, “Its Diocesan Council endorsed the “yes” campaign in a vote on April 16, and Bishop Julia Whitworth has personally gotten behind the efforts to maintain the law.”
And Jim Wallace, executive director of the Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) put it bluntly, “It is incredibly concerning when a group says they strive for “justice and peace” while at the same time supporting a regime of laws that are destroying innocent lives. I would suggest the leaders do their due diligence and speak to the people who have directly suffered from over aggressive prosecutions while hardened violent criminals run free.”
Almost immediately after Democrat Gov. Maura Healey signed the legislation nearly two years ago, Second Amendment activists began pushing for the referendum. They argued then, as they do now, that the language of Chapter 135 only targets law-abiding citizens rather than criminals.
Contrary to how the ENS describes the effort—“they forced a referendum onto the ballot”—and how the New Bedford Light describes the gun law proponents as “gun violence prevention activists,” this is a fight over Second Amendment rights in the state where the American Revolution was born 251 years ago with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The issue, incredibly, is the same: Government control of firearms. In 1775, it was the British trying to seize guns and ammunition from the colonial militia. Today, it’s government trying to prohibit ownership of certain firearms and where they may be legally carried.
Episcopal Bishop Julia Whitworth, according to the ENS report, “has personally gotten behind the efforts to maintain the law.”
She is quoted, “Owing to a powerful gun lobby, these laws are now at risk. With the support of Diocesan Council, I am calling on Episcopalians in Eastern Massachusetts to vote their faith this November and to offer visible Christian witness to peace, non-violence, and love of neighbor through the ‘Yes for a Safe Massachusetts’ advocacy.”
Yet, it was the “powerful” Democrat majority in Boston that has continually rammed through increasingly restrictive gun control measures. Wallace and his GOAL members have been battling those laws for years. The referendum challenging Chapter 135 is just the latest chapter.
