Here's one of those things I'll never get: Why is it that whenever there's a crisis involving personal weapons it involves a Christian organization? The latest problem child is the Open Carry Movement, where otherwise sane people think that they should be able to carry weapons everywhere.
The logic is pretty basic: Although violent crime over all has decreased over the last decade specific incidents have increased in number and fatality. The poster child has been the school shootings, which seemed to have increased in not just frequency but also the number of people killed and wounded. In order to combat this a number of otherwise regular people have responded by carrying weapons in plain sight so that potential shooters will think twice about using their own weapons.
Three factors are largely at work here. The first is the concept of deterrence; if a shooter sees someone willing to shoot back he is unlikely to take the first shot. Statistics back this one as the states where people carry firearms also tend to have the lowest number of murders and other violent crimes. The second is that a number of states have Stand Your Ground laws that allow someone to shoot first if he believes his life to be in danger. These laws have become a major headache in recent years. The third is that local ordinances prevent the carrying of pistols, but not rifles, thus somewhat encouraging the size of weapons to be largest available; after all, if you're going to carry something visible, you may as well make it as visible as possible.
The problem is that from a Christian perspective this makes for some interesting discussions. First off, let's be clear about one thing: This does not fall under the purview of the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment; The Bible makes a difference between murder and taking life as a means of punishment, military purposes, and that of self-defense. Although one can argue his personal beliefs, The Bible itself allows for the possibility of killing. However, some other issues do come to mind.
In and of itself, carrying a weapon is not an issue. Even The Bible allows for casual weapon carrying; as per Luke 22:35-38, Jesus even makes sure that his party has a means of defending itself (two swords apparently being enough) so obviously God has no problem with people arming themselves for self-defense. But Jesus also later rebukes Peter for using his sword against the soldiers sent to capture him (going back to the message that Christians need to obey the law of the land, of which Jesus was in violation of by His very nature (He was making some revolutionary changes, after all)). So you can defend yourself, just make sure that you are in the right.
However, there is the issue that carrying a weapon encourages its use. It's hard to turn the other cheek when you are carrying a weapon; a lost temper can easily result in a lost life. When you realize how few people that are carrying lack training in their weapons, in terms of shooting, maintenance, or legal, it is just asking for a potential slaughter, especially if two such groups encounter each other and neither backs down. An untrained person is going to look at his weapon first before other means, and that makes this just a matter of time before something bad happens. Once it does, and I feel it will, the legislation that is passed is not going to make anyone happy; we may be reduced to carrying dueling pistols.
Bottom line: I'm all for people carrying firearms, but only if they have the proper training for them and if the local laws carry stiff penalties for their misuse. The Open Carry movement makes me nervous as neither of these qualifications are being met, especially when you have people looking for the biggest, but not necessarily most effective, weapon they can get their hands on, and in states with a Stand Your Ground law. I'm hoping someone steps in soon and does something or there will be some pretty sad consequences coming.
The logic is pretty basic: Although violent crime over all has decreased over the last decade specific incidents have increased in number and fatality. The poster child has been the school shootings, which seemed to have increased in not just frequency but also the number of people killed and wounded. In order to combat this a number of otherwise regular people have responded by carrying weapons in plain sight so that potential shooters will think twice about using their own weapons.
Three factors are largely at work here. The first is the concept of deterrence; if a shooter sees someone willing to shoot back he is unlikely to take the first shot. Statistics back this one as the states where people carry firearms also tend to have the lowest number of murders and other violent crimes. The second is that a number of states have Stand Your Ground laws that allow someone to shoot first if he believes his life to be in danger. These laws have become a major headache in recent years. The third is that local ordinances prevent the carrying of pistols, but not rifles, thus somewhat encouraging the size of weapons to be largest available; after all, if you're going to carry something visible, you may as well make it as visible as possible.
The problem is that from a Christian perspective this makes for some interesting discussions. First off, let's be clear about one thing: This does not fall under the purview of the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment; The Bible makes a difference between murder and taking life as a means of punishment, military purposes, and that of self-defense. Although one can argue his personal beliefs, The Bible itself allows for the possibility of killing. However, some other issues do come to mind.
In and of itself, carrying a weapon is not an issue. Even The Bible allows for casual weapon carrying; as per Luke 22:35-38, Jesus even makes sure that his party has a means of defending itself (two swords apparently being enough) so obviously God has no problem with people arming themselves for self-defense. But Jesus also later rebukes Peter for using his sword against the soldiers sent to capture him (going back to the message that Christians need to obey the law of the land, of which Jesus was in violation of by His very nature (He was making some revolutionary changes, after all)). So you can defend yourself, just make sure that you are in the right.
However, there is the issue that carrying a weapon encourages its use. It's hard to turn the other cheek when you are carrying a weapon; a lost temper can easily result in a lost life. When you realize how few people that are carrying lack training in their weapons, in terms of shooting, maintenance, or legal, it is just asking for a potential slaughter, especially if two such groups encounter each other and neither backs down. An untrained person is going to look at his weapon first before other means, and that makes this just a matter of time before something bad happens. Once it does, and I feel it will, the legislation that is passed is not going to make anyone happy; we may be reduced to carrying dueling pistols.
Bottom line: I'm all for people carrying firearms, but only if they have the proper training for them and if the local laws carry stiff penalties for their misuse. The Open Carry movement makes me nervous as neither of these qualifications are being met, especially when you have people looking for the biggest, but not necessarily most effective, weapon they can get their hands on, and in states with a Stand Your Ground law. I'm hoping someone steps in soon and does something or there will be some pretty sad consequences coming.
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