Our Community for the Common Good concentrates on alleviating gun violence.  In 2010 we formed a coalition of churches and synagogues in Northwest Philadelphia, calling ourselves Neighborhood Partners to End Gun Violence (abbreviated NPEG).  NPEG is one of a growing number of chapters, all of them faith-based, of Heeding God’s Call.

NPEG wants to do more than talk about the annual murder and crippling of scores of children, youth, and adults (more than 300 were killed in Philadelphia in both 2011 and 2012)—and the unimaginable suffering of their families and friends.  While other groups are concerned with legislation or counseling in schools or rehabbing maimed victims, the focus of NPEG is on the primary means by which the shooters obtain their weapons: straw purchasing.  That is, handguns are purchased and then sold illegally on the streets to those who cannot purchase them legally.  “We live our faith on our feet,” as we say, holding prayer vigils and demonstrations twice monthly, rain or shine, in front of Delia’s Gun Shop, the owner and operator of which we’re asking to abide by a code of business practices developed by the nation-wide Mayors Against Illegal Guns, practices that would  significantly curb straw purchasing.

Additionally, we advocate for legislative changes in gun laws, and we engage in numerous educational outreaches to a wide variety of community faith communities and community groups.  We also hold special public events. Two such annual events are a Good Friday service and a rally on the International Day of Prayer for Peace in September. Both of these occur in public spaces, anywhere from gun shops to urban centers as parks, schools, and political centers. Finally, we hold monthly murder-site vigils, which are held on Sunday afternoons at locations where the family, friends, and neighbors of murder victims join us in a service of remembrance and dedication to action in the battle against rampant gun violence.