Gun Rights

January 17 2019

It seems to me that you cannot watch the news for more than a day or two without hearing of some school shooting or another from different parts of the U.S.  I am actually quite concerned that these instances are becoming more prevalent, but the coverage and outrage from them is becoming more and more quiet.  Further, I find it more concerning that there seems to be less and less discussion on how to solve this ever-increasing problem.  Instead from my seat all that I am seeing coming from the U.S., and ironically people in Canada is a furthering of the entrenchment over “rights” that has largely dominated the last few decades. 

I think that I am in a unique situation.  I am from the U.S., I am a gun owner, I am a hunter, I now live in Canada and have for the last decade.  I didn’t move here to be a rebel.  God called me here to serve him.  I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ.  I would like to think that there is a right answer to this problem and that the answer we are looking for comes from the Word of God. 

I am on Facebook.  What alarms me is the massive amount of posts coming from self-proclaimed Christians who depict themselves and their families flaunting their impressive firepower with captions like, “How to Blow an Anti-gunners’ Mind in One Post.”  I have a fundamental problem with this attitude being tied to God-given rights. 

Individual Rights

I have read the Bible, and nowhere in it do I read about God giving individuals the right to have a military-style arsenal.  I do read in Romans 13 that the government has the right to wield the sword, but that is completely different from individual rights.  As Christians, our response needs to be compassionate.  There should be a collective heart-shattering gasp from the church when a tragedy like a school shooting happens.  There should be silence from those who care one whit about their personal gun collection.  I wholeheartedly believe that the most dangerous event in the US church has been the tying of Christianity to conservative politics.  While I believe that conservatives hold closer ties regarding family and gender values, there are gaps in the areas of community care and compassion.  While Jesus did not come to earth to create a religion around social justice, He DID care for the poor and needy, the hurting and broken.

God’s word how we are to react

As the number of school shootings rises, along with the number of broken families and friend groups, let’s remember as Christ followers, that we are guided by God’s Word on how to react to these situations.  Romans 12:15 tells Christians to weep with those who weep.  We need to put aside whatever our convictions regarding guns are and weep with these people who are weeping.  These are the needy and hurting among us.

Let’s talk about rights.  I do not believe that guns kill people, but I’m not naive enough to think that guns don’t make it easier to kill people.  American Christians, and I say this as a generalization, have a reputation among non-Christians.  We are viewed as gun-toting, race hating, homophobic conservatives.  Unfortunately, many have embraced and celebrated this stereotype.  The Second Amendment has become the foremost article in the minds of people who think this way.  As a Christian, the bible in its entirety is supposed to be our foremost document for life; what is written in its pages is how a Christian should live.  There seems to be a disconnect between biblical truth and practical living.