Hundreds Gather to Pray for an End to Youth Violence
Saddened and frustrated by increasing youth violence that is splintering their communities, hundreds cast aside their religious differences Sunday to pray for an end to the bloodshed.
About 1,200 people gathered in the Colorado Convention Center to listen to about 35 Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Native American and Muslim leaders. About 35 young people joined the clergy in calling for peace.
Dorothy Nelson of the Church of Women United said: “We need to start raising our children the way we are supposed to and stop blaming everybody else.”
The event was organized after a summer of youth violence so severe that the state Legislature convened a special session.
One of the resulting laws makes it illegal for anyone under 18 to possess a handgun except for hunting, instruction and target practice.
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