Heeding’s History

It all started when…

December 2008 brought historic peace churches in the Philadelphia area, the Religious Society of Friends, Church of the Brethren, and the Mennonites, together in collaboration with other local urban and suburban congregations. Clergy and lay leaders were called together to inspire hope, raise voices, and take action to prevent gun violence under the banner of Heeding God’s Call. The faith-based organizers of Heeding God’s Call conducted a grassroots, direct action approach to persuade local gun shops to adopt a voluntary code of conduct to prevent straw purchases.

Straw purchases occur when a person who can pass a federal background check buys guns for someone who cannot pass a check, due to a felony record, certain domestic violence or mental health issues or youth (must be 21). Straw purchases illegally move handguns from rogue or irresponsible gun stores to straw buyers, to gun traffickers and to street and criminal markets to fuel the epidemic of gun murder. These are the guns used to threaten, wound, maim and kill.

Heeding God’s Call initially focused on Colosimo’s Gun Center, a Philadelphia gun shop that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence lists among the nation’s leading sources of sales of guns eventually recovered from crime. Local faith leaders met with the shop’s owner and attempted to convince him to adopt the Code of Conduct. When this was unsuccessful, a series of public actions was conducted, including prayer vigils, large rallies, and civil disobedience that mobilized over 1,000 people from faith communities across the Philadelphia region. In response to media coverage and public concern generated by the campaign, federal law enforcement authorities intensified their scrutiny of Colosimo’s practices. In September, 2009, the retailer lost his license and the Gun Center was shuttered.

Based on this early action, Heeding has sought to galvanize the faith community, to educate the public about the causes and consequences of gun violence in our communities, and to advocate for changes in law that will prevent the spread of illegal guns.