The Medford Friends Meeting offers this Minute to the member Meetings of Haddonfield Quarter on 12/27/2012:

 While historically Friends have long recognized and fought for sensible weapons legislation based on our testimony of peace and non-violence, Medford Friends Meeting now expresses a renewed and urgent call to member meetings in Haddonfield Quarter to re-commit ourselves to a more safe and peaceful society through practical regulation of deadly weapons, including a ban on all assault weapons. At the same time, this effort must be coupled with an equally urgent plea for comprehensive health care that fully includes mental health, recognizing that these two issues are inseparable as a national concern.

 Following the heartbreaking massacre of 20 little children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, on Dec. 14, 2012, President Barack Obama voiced his determination to implement national action that would better protect the nation’s children from increasingly frequent violent and tragic acts To partially quote the president, “If we can’t get this right, we can’t get anything right.”

 As a first step, Medford Friends Meeting urges the member meetings of Haddonfield Quarter to come together to develop an action plan on both fronts. We further ask each of the Monthly Meetings to immediately contact their senators and congressmen to impress on them the urgency of an assault rifle ban and strict control over other weapons, as well as the need for accessible mental health care. 

We will be urging the same of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and ask that the Quarter support our action.