Sikh community in US seeks gun control measures

A Sikh group has urged communities of all faiths to observe Feb 5, marking six months of the Aug 5 shooting at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, with a call to lawmakers to pass gun control measures.

A Sikh group has urged communities of all faiths to observe Feb 5, marking six months of the Aug 5 shooting at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, with a call to lawmakers to pass gun control measures.

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Appealing to all the Sikh gurdwaras to observe Sunday as 'ardas diwas', a prayer day, the Washington-based Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) asked Sikhs to also call members of US Congress to tell them that gun violence prevention laws work.

The suggested steps include: requiring universal background checks for all gun purchases banning semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines making gun trafficking a federal crime and improving access to mental health services.

SCORE chairman Rajwant Singh also asked gurdwaras to stress to Sikh community members the importance of speaking out and to ask congregants to contact their representatives to support gun control measures.

Amardeep Kaleka, son of slain Oak Creek gurdwara president, Raghuvinder Singh, grandson of Punjab Singh, who is recovering from the gun wounds sustained in Oak Creek, Rana Sodhi, brother of Balbir Singh Sodhi who was killed after 9/11 in Arizona, also joined in appealing to Sikhs across the US to work for gun control measures.