Bishop Edward J. Konieczny: He was twice decorated for distinguished service and received an officer of the year award
Oklahoma Episcopal Bishop Edward J. Konieczny, who once strongly opposed stricter gun control laws, is changing his views.
Konieczny will participate Sunday at Trinity Episcopal Church in an adult forum on gun control titled "The Thin Line Between God and Guns."
A former police officer, Konieczny discussed his changing views on gun control in a recent CNN Belief Blog that drew national attention.
Gun violence is a subject about which he has intimate knowledge.
He worked in law enforcement for 18 years in Southern California before being ordained an Episcopal priest in 1994, three weeks before his 40th birthday. Working undercover in vice and narcotics, he was twice decorated for distinguished service and received an officer of the year award.
In 1979, he traded shifts with a fellow police officer who was one of his best friends. On duty that night, his friend was shot in the chest and killed while escorting a convicted felon from a bar.
Three years later Konieczny was part of a team of officers who shot and killed a convicted rapist who had escaped from prison.
In 1991, a few days before he was going to leave the police force to enter the seminary, a man with a history of mental illness pointed a rifle at Konieczny's head and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired.
Konieczny served churches in Colorado, California and Texas before coming to Oklahoma.
He has a concealed carry permit and sometimes takes a gun when he travels in isolated areas of the state.
"Until very recently, I was adamantly opposed to any expansion of gun control," he said in the CNN blog. "But as I have reflected on the current debate - and the emotionally charged and morally complex gun-related moments in my past - I find myself struggling and evolving in my understanding of guns in our society."
The Newtown, Conn., massacre and similar incidents make it clear that "we have to face the raw emotions of gun violence whether we want to or not," he said. "Clearly God's command to practice mercy and justice requires us to formulate a comprehensive response to gun violence."
The United States needs to have a reasoned conversation about existing privacy laws that "protect the mentally ill but too often fail to protect our law enforcement officers and our citizens," he said.
Konieczny said conversations also are needed about movies and video games that desensitize children to violence and about loopholes in the law that allow the sale of guns at gun shows without proper background checks.
At the same time, he said, "We need not vilify gun owners nor make it unduly difficult to purchase and register a weapon.
"We must proceed with humility," he said. "But we must proceed."
Gun control forum
What: "The Thin Line Between God and Guns"
Who: Episcopal Bishop Edward J. Konieczny.
When: 10 a.m. Sunday.
Where: Trinity Episcopal Church, 501 S. Cincinnati Ave.
Bill Sherman 918-581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Episcopal bishop weighs in on gun control issue
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