Faith leaders attend celebration of gun control law

Faith leaders from a wide range of traditions, including those whose houses of worship have been attacked, were at the White House on July 11 as members of Congress and other gun control advocates gathered for a White House celebration of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law June 25.

Mike McBride, the leader of Live Free USA, who has long sought political support to help the nation’s urban centers, hailed the signing as an opportunity to address gun violence deaths that do not always make national headlines.

“It’s been a very difficult task to get the death of Black men in this country, much less the death of any Black folks, to receive national attention and intervention,” said McBride. “Even among Democrats—Democrats have not been the most political champions for this work. So it’s taken us ten years to get to $250 million committed in a bipartisan way.”