Guns in church show that whatever is said about trust in God, it's really the threat of violence that we are trusting, says Simon Barrow. And this contradiction opens up a rich vein of satire against our patently false gods.

A religious peace gathering in Philadelphia, USA, featured daily acts of opposition to gun violence held at a gun store in the city. The actions included non-violent protest, prayer, and civil disobedience.

A US Christian leader has asked a World Council of Churches peacemaking team visiting the United States for assistance to rid his country of the "scourge" of gun violence during the team's September 2007 visit.

Discussions about gun control and small arms trafficking, violence in the streets and against ethnic groups, as well as the engagement by churches in peacemaking activities consumed the first days of a 10-day visit to the United States by an international team.

More than 100 US urban youth and members of local Anabaptist churches came together earlier this month (November 2006) for Packing the Peace of Christ, a conference focused on a Christian response to handgun homicide, which takes an average of one life per day here - write Justin Shenk and Shannon Burgess.