The civil rights organization led by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., has called on the White House to declare a national state of emergency over gun violence across the country.
The Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition held an emergency summit Monday to discuss the issue of gun violence and the possibility of federal involvement in easing it. Several Chicago ministers, elected officials, community organizers and activists attended the meeting.
"Whether it's a hurricane or whether it is flooding on the East Coast, when the federal government steps in, they bring resources, they bring solutions, they bring answers," said Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church. "Well, we have a hurricane of violence and war going on in our communities.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition issued a statement last week in response to the recent mass shooting at an Oregon community college that left nine dead. The organization also decried the gun violence in Chicago, saying September was the most violent month in the city since 2002.
"We believe a national state of emergency should be declared, banning people from carrying guns outside of their homes (hunters and law enforcement excepted)," the coalition said in the statement. "Parents who own guns must be held accountable for gun violence their children cause with their weapons. Gun trafficking should be made a felony and other gun laws strengthened and the penalties for violating them made better."
Two weekends in a row last month saw more than 50 people shot in Chicago. Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel both expressed their anger with the uptick in shootings and pointed the finger at a lack of gun control.
After naming Chicago the "epicenter of the urban crisis," the leaders of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition also called on the White House to hold a national conference on gun violence here in Chicago. They also suggested a national commission should be created to address the "epidemic of gun violence," but members of the commission should not include members of gun lobbies.
U.S. & World
"The gun manufacturers are protected by law and lobbyists. The gun shop owners are protected by law and lobbyists," the statement reads. "The only ones not protected are the victims and their loved ones. It's time we stop finger pointing. It's time we come together and act; past time. This is a national crisis and we must respond accordingly."
