What If Catholics Voted On Gun Control Like They Vote On Abortion?

Imagine if bishops withheld communion from pro-gun legislators

Image credit: Lorie Shaull (Wikimedia Commons)

I grew up in a devoutly Catholic household in the Midwest. Back in the 80s and 90s, abortion was definitely a higher priority for Catholics than gun control. We hadn’t yet entered the era of mass shootings inaugurated by 1999’s massacre at Columbine High School. Instead, we were caught in the throes of the anti-Roe backlash.

That backlash had a deeply unfortunate consequence. Historically, Catholics had identified with the Democratic Party. And while a plurality of Catholics still prefer Democrats, the gap has narrowed substantially. Indeed, these days it seems like you can more easily predict a Catholic’s political leanings by looking at their zip code than anything else.

Many Catholics — my parents among them — became for a time single issue voters. All they needed to know about a politician was their stance on abortion. Never mind that opposition to abortion rarely correlated with support for other policies championed by the Church, including abolition of the death penalty, universal health care, and other social justice priorities.

The saddest result of the American Church’s focus on abortion was that, instead of pressuring pro-life lawmakers to…