National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath: Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Faith Leaders, Gun Violence Survivors, Mayors and Others are #Risingforcharleston this Weekend in Wake of Mass Shooting

More Than 1,000 Faith Leaders and Members of Religious Communities Have Signed Up to Participate in #RisingforCharleston

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church that claimed nine innocent lives, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and faith leaders across the country will participate in a National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath to honor the victims of the Charleston shooting and talk about how people of faith and concerned citizens are uniting to turn grief into action – action that will ultimately help reduce gun violence in America.

The weekend events are part of a larger effort, #RisingforCharleston, in which people of faith and communities around the country will honor those who were killed at Emanuel AME — and the 88 people who die from gun violence every day and hundreds of others injured by gun violence every day in America. More information can be found here.

In just under one week, more than 1,000 faith leaders and members of religious communities have signed up to participate in #RisingforCharleston. National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath events will take place this weekend in:

• Chicago, IL
  
• Detroit, MI
  
• Isla Vista, CA
  
• New Orleans, LA
  
• Newtown, CT
  
• Oak Creek, WI
  
• Topeka, KS
  
• Tucson, AZ

“The pain and sorrow that the community of Charleston is experiencing is something I know all too well. Just as my neighbors surrounded me with prayer, I plan to return that same compassion – serving our brothers and sisters in their desperate time of need by #RisingforCharleston,” said Lucy McBath, mother of slain Florida teen Jordan Davis and Faith Outreach Leader for Everytown for Gun Safety. “Unbelievably easy access to guns in our country emboldens dangerous and ill-intentioned individuals to carry out unthinkable crimes. This crisis calls for solutions that will reduce our nation’s alarming rate of gun violence that kills 88 Americans and injures hundreds more every single day.”

Everytown for Gun Safety has been working with faith leaders across the country to prevent gun violence – a video featuring leaders from across many faiths is available here.