Gun Ownership

Image: St. Louis husband-and-wife attorneys pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in front of their house.

The United States protects individual right to gun ownership through the second amendment of the Constitution, but just because we can does not mean we should. As Apostle Paul has written:

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. (1 Corinthians 10:23)

The most common arguments supporting gun ownership is for self-defense, and for keeping the government in check. But are these arguments beneficial or constructive?

Poor For Self-Defense

Some claim that guns are good for self-defense, but the truth is that guns are poor defense weapons. You have to aim, and that requires mental preparedness. It is more difficult if your target is actively dodging. Guns can be overtaken during close-quarter combat. That’s why they only work as an assault weapon where the attacker has the advantage of surprise and distance. In a self-defense situation, the victim is already dead before he could draw his gun.

There are more reasons for a Christian to shun the use of guns for self-defense. Some Christians will argue: didn’t Jesus tell his disciples to buy swords during the last supper?

35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied. (Luke 22:35-38)

Previously, the disciples did kingdom work that was miraculously supported by divine provision. The crucifixion of Jesus marked the point where the disciples will have to take the initiative. They will also need to prepare facing violent prosecution. Two swords are clearly not enough for the self-defense of all 12 disciples. This is most likely symbolic.

Next early morning, when Jesus was arrested to be crucified, a follower took out a sword in self-defense and cut off an arrestor’s ear. This is what Jesus said to him:

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)

That follower clearly used the sword poorly and did not achieve self-defense. Rather than using guns for self-defense, it is better to learn how to de-escalate a hostile situation.

The police knew that even though they are issued arms, it is not enough to ensure their personal safety. Due to the proliferation of guns, the police has to outclass the civilians in firepower, which led to the unnecessary militarization of the police. The police also adopted first-strike tactics, which had caused innocent deaths such as Breonna Taylor who died when the police raided the wrong apartment in her complex. Blacks and Hispanics are disproportionally victims of police brutality. Civilian gun ownership did nothing to curb violence, only aggravated it.

Against the Authority

Another argument supporting gun ownership is to keep the government in check.

This argument has been favored in particular by the South, after they lost the Civil War. United Daughters of the Confederacy have been attempting to rewrite the history about the Civil War that they had lost. Some have been conspiring a second civil war through the Boogaloo movement. Two police officers in Wilmington, NC were caught on tape saying that they are ready for a civil war to slaughter black people.

Piner told Moore that he feels a civil war is coming and that he is ready. Piner said he was going to buy a new assault rifle, and soon “we are just going to go out and start slaughtering them (expletive)” Blacks. “I can’t wait. God, I can’t wait.”

Having any sort of gun control means it would put a damper on their war effort. The irony is that they are attempting to overthrow the very institution of the US Constitution itself using the rights granted to them by the very same Constitution. But make no mistake about this: Confederacy is treason.

The solution is to avail the second amendment insofar as the arms bearer swears allegiance to protect the Constitution as well as its institution. This means the right to bear arms shall be revoked for a person who has confessed (in any way, either public or privately) about their support of a Civil War or the Confederacy, since such views endanger the integrity of the Constitution. This is coherent with the spirit of the second amendment which stipulates that the right to bear arms being contingent upon “a well regulated Militia.” If a Militia is to overthrow the Constitution, it is no longer well-regulated.

Christians should also avoid the use of guns for civil liberty. Apostle Paul wrote:

For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:4)

Realistically, we have been in the atomic age for over 70 years now. How do we expect to keep the government in check using guns against nuclear weapons? The only force more powerful is the act of God. We should trust that God put the authority in place for good.