Toledo Blade
Article published June 27, 2009

Church to host rally on right to bear arms
Northwest Baptist Church, 3906 West Alexis Rd., will hold a rally Monday night on the right to keep and bear arms. The Rev. Bryan Sharp, pastor and evangelist, will address such topics as whether the Old Testament and New Testament teach people that they have the right to keep and bear arms, what Jesus says about bearing arms, and whether American citizens would be safer being disarmed.



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Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence

Press Release June 29, 2009


Toledo Church Rally To Promote Guns As Part of 'God's Will'

Is An Insult To All Faiths and Religions



Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence Calls On Religious Leaders

To Speak Out Over Gun Lobby's Immoral Agenda:


(Toledo, OH, June 29, 2009) - The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence released the following statement in response

to the Northwest Baptist Church's gun rally in Toledo, OH scheduled for Monday night, June 29. The Northwest Baptist Church is falsely claiming that the Bible and Jesus Christ support Christians arming themselves with deadly firearms.

Toby Hoover, the Executive Director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence said in response:

"It is an embarrassment to people of faith that pray for peace and non-violence to have these people use a house of worship to encourage the ownership and defend the use of weapons."

"Firearms are not sacred relics of worship. They are tools of violence- lethal products designed to kill and injure human beings, to destroy lives, and cause terror in our communities."

"Guns allow a person to decide who lives and who dies. It is absolutely immoral to suggest that the Bible supports violence. We need to reduce gun violence, not use fear to divide and distract us to the suffering caused by our gun culture. "

"The gun lobby and gun industry like to disguise their radical and extremist agenda by hiding behind the flag, and now the Bible. People's lives and safety should matter more than a radical and violent ideology purported by the gun lobby."

"The Northwest Baptist Church's gun rally is an insult to all faiths, religions, and the human community to which we all belong. We call on all members of the faith community to speak out about this dangerous agenda. It is absolutely vital that we not allow the gun lobby to hijack our sacred spaces of worship as they have done to our public places. Our families and children are less safe because of the proliferation of deadly and loaded guns being carried in public, both openly and concealed. "

"We need to honor our values by reducing the access to these tools of violence and not promote weapons and fear if we are ever to reclaim a peaceful and just society. "

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