Gun Sense Ministry Team
PURPOSE
The purpose of this ministry is to empower Unity Church and its membership to be active citizens in this process of dialogue and creation of policy. OUR PARTNER Each ministry team at Unity Church is required to partner with an organization outside of the church. Unity's Gun Sense Ministry Team partners with Protect Minnesota, the only independent state-focused organization working for reasonable gun safety policy solutions in Minnesota. We urge all of you to look at their website and to join the organization. We think that it is positive, focused and reliable. GET INVOLVED If you would like to learn more about the work of this team, please contact Sue Conner at sue.conner@comcast.net or Joan Duke at joanduke@comcast.net. March 2019: Gun Sense Ministry Team UpdateGun Sense: A Teacher's Perspective
From Sue Conner, Unity's Gun Sense Ministry Team Unity’s Gun Sense Team spoke with church members Jackie and Dave Smith, long time teachers. We asked: As teachers, how do you see gun violence impacting the children you work with? How does it affect your work? How do you “deal with” the reality of gun violence as you work with children in a school setting? Jackie and Dave: Last year three families in Jackie's school lost close family members to gun violence. Dave's school was the first place a mother, shot in the arm, ran to with her children when an intruder came to their nearby home. It is evident that the damage that this type of trauma leaves is deep and generational. How does a fourth grader heal after seeing her brother shoot himself? Do sisters ever come into their own while being raised by a mourning mother? The stress of this comes not just with the event, but supporting children who live with this type of grief, fear, and guilt for their entire lives, raised by parents who feel the same. The role of teacher is to care for children as they negotiate all the strain in their lives, and help them move forward. It is hard to learn when there are traumatic barriers in their lives. As we begin this new Minnesota legislative session, we have another opportunity to pass some sensible gun policy bills that will save lives in Minnesota. Other states have done this, why can’t we? The bills being presented are:
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