Jamie Moffett streamed the vigil live from his phone, we are going to put together a recap for you, in the meantime, you can browse through Jamie's archives.

At about midnight we heard the shots ring out.   My friend ran to the door and I heard him yell, “Shane, a kid has been shot, come down.”  As we looked down the street we could see a young man staggering as he walked down our block.  Then his knees gave out and he fell to the ground.  We called for an ambulance, and ran outside to be with the boy.  My friend talked to him tenderly, looking into his eyes as they struggled to stay alert.  We could see the wounds in his chest, torn by bullets.  I grabbed his hand and held it as we prayed… and as we hoped.  The ambulance came and drove him off.  The next morning we heard that 19-year old Papito died that night from the gunshot wounds, on February 5, 2010.  Papito was the fourth shooting in the last few months within walking distance from our house. 

Right now in Philadelphia there is a homicide every 48 hours.  A few years ago it was one a day.  One a year is too many.  I remember Dr. King saying something to the effect, “We are all called to be the good Samaritan, and lift our injured neighbor from the ditch on the Jericho road… but after you lift so many people from the ditch, you start to say, ‘Maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be reimagined… so folks don’t keep ending up in the ditch.’”

After you see so many kids shoot each other, you start to ask where are they getting the guns?  In our neighborhood, one of the answers to that question is, “The Shooter Shop”.  The Shooter Shop is a gunshop located a few blocks from our house here in Kensington, and it has statistically been one of the worst gunshops in the country – for having guns sold there later tracked to violent crimes on the streets.  A group of local clergy and community organizers have now approached the owner of The Shooter Shop (as we did Colosimo’s gunshop, and we are urging him to sign a Code of Conduct, a 10-point covenant created by a national association of Mayors committed to decreasing violence on the streets.

We will also be starting to vigil outside his gunshop Saturday, February 20, two weeks after this latest shooting.  We will walk from the spot where Papito was killed to the gunshop 3 blocks away.  There are 3 things I want to invite you to do, if you are one of those folks who doesn’t just like pontificating but likes acting. 

1. Pick up the phone and give the owner of The Shooter Shop a call – (215) 426-2215.  His name is Mr. Haney, and we are in a respectful conversation with him.  Stress to him how urgent the issue is, and that he genuinely has an opportunity lead with integrity and set a precedent for other gunshops in this country.  We really hope that he will sign the Code of Conduct.  And when he does, we will have a celebration outside his gunshop instead of a protest.
2. Come to the vigil if you are in the Philadelphia area.  We will be at The Shooter Shop (2001 E. Allegheny Ave) at noon this Saturday.  If you are not in the area, start a conversation with your local gunshop and encourage them to commit to the 10 point Code of Conduct. 
3. Write or Call the members of Congress and encourage them to pass legislation that will decrease gun violence on our streets.  One such law we are pursuing in Pennsylvania would limit the number of guns to “One Handgun a Month”.  Part of the problem is that there are no limitations to how many guns folks can buy which is why the end up being resold on the streets by “straw purchasers.”  We are not even trying to stop the “right to bear arms”, we’re just saying maybe one handgun a month is enough.  And for those of us who are Christians, Jesus sure didn’t have a much to say about the right to bear arms but had a heck of a lot to say about loving our enemies… so we hope Christians of conscience can help lead this important struggle for peace. 

Keep our neighborhood in your prayers.  Pray for Papito’s family, for those who killed him, and for the arms dealers in our world (both gunshops like The Shooter Shop and gunshops like Lockheed Martin).  We had a powerful memorial for Papito this week, where about 100 of us gathered as a neighborhood with Papito’s family.  We prayed.  We cried.  We read Scripture.  We ached for an end to the bloodshed.

Rest in Peace, Papito my brother.  And we will do our best to make sure that other lives are not taken the way that yours was.

May God continue to heal all that is broken in our hearts, in our streets, and in our world.

For more information, see:
Heeding God's Call
Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership: A 10-Point Voluntary Code 
Vigil & Rally information