I am not a ‘gun-guy’ even though I recently took a gun-safety training course. If you tried to rob my humble abode today you would be confronted by two small terrified terriers, but no gun-toting cowboy. My Bible and the Mighty God who authored it is my best and only home defense right now.
(Except for the terriers. They might pee and poop themselves and give the robbers pause before they stepped into the house.)
A couple of thoughts on gun control:
If we take the guns away from law-abiding citizens will that solve the problems?
We know the criminals will get the guns they want.
We don’t take cars away from people even though they kill so many people. We don’t take the alcohol away. Recently a professional football player killed his wife/girlfriend and than took his own life. There was an outcry to ban guns. If the guns weren’t available it was said, then this tragedy would not happen.
The following week another football player killed his best friend while driving drunk late at night. There wasn’t an outcry to take cars away or alcohol away from innocent professional football players after that incident.
It’s not the guns or cars or late night drinks that are the problem. It’s the sinners who refuse to control their bad behavior.
Below is an article taken from the economic collapse blog.
Society Is Crumbling Right In Front Of Our Eyes And Banning Guns Won’t Help
By Michael, on December 16th, 2012
What in the world is happening to America? I have written many articles about how society is crumbling right in front of our eyes, but now it is getting to the point where people are going to be afraid to go to school or go shopping at the mall. Just consider what has happened over the past week. Adam Lanza savagely murdered 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. 42-year-old Marcus Gurrola threatened to shoot innocent shoppers and fired off more than 50 rounds in the parking lot of Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach, California. After police apprehended him, he told them that he “was unhappy with life”. Earlier in the week, a crazy man wearing a hockey mask and armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire on the second floor of a mall in Happy Valley, Oregon. He killed two people and injured a third. On Saturday morning, a lone gunman walked into a hospital in Alabama and opened fire. He killed one police officer and two hospital employees before being gunned down by another police officer. So have we now reached the point where every school, every mall and every hospital is going to need armed security? How will society function efficiently if everyone is constantly worried about mass murderers?
In response to the horrible tragedy in Connecticut, many in the mainstream media are suggesting that much stricter gun laws are the obvious solution.
After all, if we get rid of all the guns these crazy people won’t be able to commit these kinds of crimes, right?
Unfortunately, that is not how it works. The criminals don’t obey gun control laws. Banning guns will just take them out of the hands of law-abiding American citizens that just want to protect their own families.
Adam Lanza didn’t let the strict gun control laws up in Connecticut stop him from what he wanted to do. Connecticut already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, and Adam Lanza broke at least three of them.
However, if there had been some armed security officers or some armed teachers at that school, they may have had a chance to protect those dear little children from being brutally gunned down.
If gun control was really the solution to our problems, then cities that have implemented strict gun control laws should be some of the safest in the entire country.
But sadly, just the opposite is true.
For example, Chicago has very strict gun laws. But 10 people were shot in the city of Chicago on Friday alone. Chicago is now considered to be “the deadliest global city“, and the murder rate in Chicago is about 25 percent higher than it was last year.
So has gun control turned Chicago into a utopia?
Of course not.
And it won’t solve our problems on a national level either.
You can find more statistics about the futility of gun control right here.
Well, how would things be if we did just the opposite and everyone had a gun?
Would gun crime go through the roof?
That is what liberals were warning of when the city of Kennesaw, Georgia passed a law requiring every home to have a gun. But instead of disaster, the results turned out to be very impressive…
In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw – responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. – unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of “Wild West” showdowns and increased violence and accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting – as a victim, attacker or defender.
The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.
Prior to enactment of the law, Kennesaw had a population of just 5,242 but a crime rate significantly higher (4,332 per 100,000) than the national average (3,899 per 100,000). The latest statistics available – for the year 2005 – show the rate at 2,027 per 100,000. Meanwhile, the population has skyrocketed to 28,189.
When criminals know that everyone has guns, they are much less likely to try something. And often armed citizens are able to prevent potential mass murderers from doing more damage. You can find several examples of this right here.
But of course most of our politicians are not interested in common sense. Instead, they are obsessed with the idea that gun control will make our country “safe” again.
Senator Diane Feinstein says that she is ready to introduce a strict gun control bill in January that will “ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession” of many types of firearms.
Will such a law keep the criminals from getting guns?
No way. Just look at what is happening with the cartels down in Mexico. The criminals are always able to get guns.
If our “leaders” were really interested in stopping these mass murders, they would take a look at the role that mind-altering pharmaceutical drugs play in these incidents. If you look at the mass murders that have occurred over the past several decades, in the vast majority of them the murderer had been using mind-altering pharmaceutical drugs…
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has raised concerns about severe acts of violence as side effects of anti-psychotic and antidepressant drugs not only on individuals but on society as well.
Just a month ago PRWeb described drug induced violence as ”medicine’s best kept secret.”
And the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHRI) is calling for a federal investigation on its web page which links no less than 14 mass killings to the use of psychiatric drugs such as Prozac and Paxil.
And guess what?
According to the Washington Post, one neighbor says that Adam Lanza was “on medication”.
But will our politicians ever consider a law against such drugs?
Of course not. The big corporations that produce those drugs give mountains of money to the campaign funds of our politicians.
So the focus of the debate will remain on guns.
And a lot of liberals would have us believe that our society could be transformed into some type of “utopia” if we could just get rid of all the guns.
Unfortunately, that is simply not true. Our society is in an advanced state of moral decay, and this moral decay is manifesting in our society in thousands of different ways. The corruption runs from the highest levels of society all the way down to the lowest.
For those that believe that gun control would somehow “fix America”, I have some questions for you…
Down in Texas, one set of parents kept their 10-year-old son locked in a bedroom and only fed him bread and water for months. Eventually he died of starvation and they dumped his body in a creek.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
A pastor in north Texas was recently assaulted by an enraged man who beat him to death with an electric guitar.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
Police up in New Jersey say that a man kept his girlfriend padlocked in a bedroom for most of the last 10 years.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
A 31-year-old man up in Canada was found guilty of raping an 8-year-old girl, breaking 16 of her bones and smashing her in the face with a hammer.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
According to the FBI, a New York City police officer is being accused of “planning the kidnap, rape, torture and cannibilization of a number of women”.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
A Secret Service officer that had been assigned to protect Joe Biden’s residence has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
Over in Texas, a very sick 29-year-old man stabbed his girlfriend to death and then burned his one-year-old baby alive because she had gone to court and filed for child support.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
Over in Utah, a 21-year-old man is accused of stabbing his grandmother 111 times and then removing her organs with a knife.
Would banning guns have kept that from happening?
There are more than 3 million reports of child abuse in the United States every single year.
Would banning guns keep that from happening?
An average of five children die as a result of child abuse in the United States every single day.
Would banning guns keep that from happening?
The United States has the highest child abuse death rate on the entire globe.
Would banning guns keep that from happening?
It is estimated that 500,000 Americans that will be born this year will be sexually abused before they turn 18.
Would banning guns keep that from happening?
In the United States today, it is estimated that one out of every four girls is sexually abused before they become adults.
Would banning guns keep that from happening?
If there was a way to take all of the guns away from all of the criminals, I would be all in favor of it. Unfortunately, no government on the planet has been able to do that.
Instead, we have seen that criminals thrive whenever gun bans are instituted and the guns are taken away from law-abiding citizens.
But the bottom line is that our social decay will not be solved either by more guns or less guns.
Our social decay is the result of decades of bad decisions. We have pushed morality out of our schools, out of government and out of almost every aspect of public life. Now we are experiencing the bitter fruit of those decisions.
And this is not a problem that our government is going to be able to fix. Violent crime increased by 18 percent in 2011, and this is just the beginning.
As our economy gets even worse, the rot and decay that have been eating away the foundations of America are going to become even more evident. The number of Americans living in poverty grows with each passing day, and millions upon millions of people are becoming very desperate.
Desperate people do desperate things, and crime, rioting and looting are going to become commonplace in the United States in the years ahead.
So you can pretend that the government is going to be able to keep our society from crumbling all you want, but that is not going to help you when a gang of desperate criminals has invaded your home and is attacking your family.
We definitely should mourn for the victims in Connecticut. It was a horrible national tragedy.
But this is just the beginning. The fabric of our society is coming apart at the seams. The feeling of safety and security that we all used to take for granted has been shattered, and the streets of America are going to steadily become much more dangerous.
I hope that you are ready.
I want to share an amazing short film called “A Perfect Day” about a potential mass shooter on the morning of, and an unsuspecting stranger who opens the shooter’s eyes to the implications of what he’s about to do. Powerful stuff!
Hey Adam,
I looked at the video. It didn’t end like I expected. Some graphic language, but that is what we see and hear all too often today. Thanks for sharing. Today’s kids could use a few more adults willing to try to talk to them.
Your use of: “Would banning guns have kept that from happening?” is an odd correlation between gun laws and violence. If there were no guns at all, would violence still occur? Yes. Well then, lets have guns for protection. Perhaps I didn’t connect the dots in your post. You refer to Chicago as having strict gun control laws and yet the murder rate is 2nd in the country. Chicago also has one of the lowest ratios of police per capita, and in the ‘ghetto’ areas where near all murders have taken place, all but non-existent. Laws are of no value if they can’t be enforced.
Likewise St Louis. One of the highest crime rates in the country. Why, it is a hub for drug trafficking. O well then, as with guns, let us just allow everyone to have access to the drug of their choice and crime will be reduced.
I will agree with you that it is social decay that is at the root of violence. To combat that social decay, it takes social programs and social education. That takes dollars and dollars communities don’t have. It is cheaper to place the blame on the mentally ill and marginalized communities.
Dogbronte,
I gave a few personal comments in this blog post, but much of the words were from an article I borrowed, which I always make sure to mention if I do take an article from another site.
I browsed through to see if I had made the comments to which you refer or if that was the other author. “Would banning guns have kept that from happening?” I didn’t see where I said that, but I certainly implied that. I would agree with the implication of the question. The connection between the two is this. The tragedy happens so the obvious solution to some is get rid of the guns, but we don’t get rid of cars when there is a tragic car accident. People and politicians, (not sure if the two are the same) always seem to look for the wrong solution. Getting rid of guns is not the solution, but getting them out of the hands of criminals of course would be good. We don’t know who the criminals are though until they commit a crime. Helping society at it’s core, it’s heart and soul is a better solution.
Your mention of St Louis and Chicago and the lack of police help is a huge issue and points to the fact there is no real effort to solve these problems. It’s almost as though they want to let people kill themselves. That’s a whole other issue but is true to some degree.
You say it is cheaper to place the blame on mentally ill and marginalized communities. Excellent point and they will soon look to restrict activities of those people. Wrong solution again. I will probably post on this as well. It’s not the mentally ill who are to blame. Let’s get them the help they need, but don’t ignore the problems
Great points I hope I clarified a little bit what I meant. let me know if I didn’t.
You have clarified the issue and I do hope that yo do continue to post on all these issues. I totally agree with your title premise; “Society is crumbly before our eyes, Its not the guns, it’s the sin”. My thoughts are toward lawmakers who polarize issues so as not to lose their vote base. When each side marginalizes or lays blame on certain groups of society and then frame their arguments on issues of ‘Rights’, little beneficial is achieved. The Nations people have first to lose the “Me First” attitudes. That includes many of the Christian community as well.
Consider answering this question in a post one day:
Many nations claim that they are a Nation Under God and base their constitutions on inalienable rights. What are our Biblical – God given Rights?
From what I have researched we are imposed with more obligations than rights. Or conditions to be met before a ‘right’ or grace is granted.
Dogbronte,
It sounds like we are on the same page on the issues.
The law makers generally have limited goals and they don’t involve the noble and statesmen-like ideals of the great leaders of the past. (Truly though whenever a human gets involved in leadership there is a good chance for things to progress quickly into ruin.)
Our leaders today have power and influence and they want to keep it.
When their lips are moving and they are saying things that sound like they care about people, they really only want to give an impression of care based on their ideological world view that shapes their motives. Their motives are almost always selfish, and since they don’t recognize that in themselves they will believe the lies that come out of their mouths. They deceive themselves and those gullible enough to believe the leaders in power want what is best for them.
The Christian community has made the mistake of thinking they could have a genuine influence on society by making good connections with certain political leaders.
The ideals, hopes and dreams of these efforts are probably good for the most part, but what is not taken into consideration is the corrupt nature of those in power.
Good people in power will often cling more tightly to the power and compromise on the good.
The ‘Me first’ attitude you speak about is inborn in all of us and takes daily hard work to suppress it. We as humans want what is best for our own selves.
You hit on a great point about what our rights are.
Here’s the ‘kicker’
I believe the proper mindset of the believer is that we have given up all of our rights and are now what the Bible calls ‘bond-servants’. That would be an offensive term to many but it the mindset that Paul the Apostle prescribed for himself and encouraged others to have.
If we have no rights then we as a person will not be so offended when we are done wrong.
There is a whole tangled mess of issues that come with that and could stir a lot of emotions, but I believe it is the right ‘Christ-like’ attitude to have.
None of us can live that out perfectly in our daily lives, but it can be set as a goal.
Doug, I believe the teaching of Paul you refer to is 1 Corinthians 9. To paraphrase, “..although I have the right as a preacher of the Gospel to earn my living from preaching the Gospel, for your sake and Christ’s, I surrender that right that the Gospel will reach all the more and I will take my reward in the knowledge that the Gospel has been preached.”
I believe the main work of the Church, the reason for the Church, is to glorify God by doing the works of Christ who came to comfort the poor and the meek, deliver the under privileged from their plight, show mercy to the persecuted and be a light to God’s salvation and in doing such, the Gospel is shown.
We then, as followers of Christ, must speak out of people’s rights. Every person has the right to live. He/she has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly that of food, clothing, shelter, medical care and the necessary social services. Every one has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability, widowhood, old age, enforced unemployment or whenever through no fault of his own or circumstance he is deprived of for the means of livelihood.
Every nation has also the duty to protect the rights of all its people, and particularly of its weaker members, the unemployed, the under privileged, women and children. It can never be right for the State to shirk its obligation of working actively and diligently for the betterment of the condition of the same.
Here in Canada, our nations deepest shame is the plight of First Nations people. I am trying as best I can to give support to this issue. At present First Nations are asking the Governments to ratify their treaties in a movement called Idle No More. (http://humbledogs.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/idle-no-more/)
It is absolutely appalling to me how much opposition amongst the “white”, even Christian whites population there is. It is hard to control ones emotions when these people are characterized by the few. “All they want is a welfare checque” “Look at them, a bunch of drunks spending their time at bingo” “They need to get a job and help themselves.”
It is sad when a people have to resort to bordering on civil disobedience in order to draw attention to their plight.
Dogbrunte,
More great thoughts and comments. Thanks
I hope you don’t mind, but I am going to post all of your most recent comment into another post and hopefully get a couple other people into the conversation. We differ in opinion on a couple things but I think good honest exchanging of ideas is the right thing to do. I’m working on the post and it should be up soon. I’ll try to answer some of your comments in that post.
Thanks again for your ideas.
I changed my mind:
As I was trying to write the blog article in response to your comment, too many issues came up and it would get into too many touchy issues I think.
My thoughts on Paul’s bond servant attitude are these.
He surrendered his will to the will of the Lord. He called himself a prisoner of the Lord. Though he was imprisoned by Rome and chased down by Jewish zealots he saw that his desires had become that of the Lords’ and he was satisfied with nothing but God’s will.
I do agree with your ideas about what a government should try to provide for its people. I think without a Biblical worldview any government would have difficulty determining what was even right and wrong.
Where I differ with you is your view that those things that a government should provide are a right. If the government doesn’t provide things for me, I don’t see that I have a right denied.
Paul and other writers tell us to be content with all things and in every circumstance. In faith we look to the Lord for His provision.
Again, I think your thoughts and goals are noble and right and good to pursue, but do not come to the point of being a right. An important point to consider is that when people feel their rights are violated by a government not giving them something they will do as you say. They will move to civil disobedience, and then often beyond that when they feel it is needed. Much of southern Europe is going through that now.
I don’t believe a Christian should have that attitude. I think we should see the failings of man and his government systems as nothing more than more or the same. sinful men doing sinful things. Men and governments will always fail. The only government that will work is the one that will be set up when the Lord comes to establish his own Kingdom on this earth, after man has failed again and again. I don’t know what you believe in that regard but I would summarize it that way.
Actually, as Christians, or as secular citizens, I don’t believe we should make any demands for rights for provision of life and do all we can to provide for ourselves. I do believe though, as Christians, we should consider the basic provisions needed to live in dignity, necessities of life and therefore do for others as we would appreciate being done for us. Governments are a different matter. They should have a duty by law to provide as if all had the right to basic provision and at the least, provide the opportunity for such.
Some persons, I am sorry to say, have placed themselves beyond any immediate help. We must ask for discernment in these matters and be there for them how and when God so leads us. That said, we can’t just write them off.
As for end times: Until the day Christ comes again and we shall see Him face to face and releave us from this chaos mankind has created,…..
It has been so good to communicate with you. God bless and keep you and all whom you hold dear. Maranatha
I do think we are in agreement on these things, but the huge problem is the governments. Whichever country or group of people they represent that particular government does have an obligation before God to care for it’s people. The problem would be to get them to comply and help it’s people. I think the efforts to address and help make the public aware of issues is wise and honoring to God, especially for the less fortunate and neglected members of a society.
It’s those wily politicians and money-sucking, power-hungry groups that get in the way. Every side of every political party and issue has the bad eggs. it’s the sin, back to the real problem.
Blessing to you
in Canada we have some gun problems, with assault rifles creeping in from other areas and the criminal element with drugs and guns, Most hunters, farmers and ranchers, have a hunting rifle, a shotgun and sometimes a handgun for home protection, over 76 years of outdoors activities, we have never seen an assault rifle. with large capacity magazines for bullets, most people using guns legally, practice and are able to down a moose deer, bear sheep or goat or other animal with one or two bullets, and huge magazine capacities means more weight to carry, Now that the long gun registry has been Quashed, mostly all handguns are registered by law and we must apply to obtain guns this sorts out anyone with mental or criminal issues, of course criminals will never want to be traced in up front purchase’s compared to the U.S.A. we don’t seem to have the appetite for a gun store in the basement because we don’t seem also to contain the untrust of others and need to have heavy artillery
have a nice day
Hi Johnson,
I’ve never been, but I hear you have a beautiful country. It sounds and looks fantastic from what I have gathered. Its too bad that those weapons are getting in and the criminals are the ones bringing them in. I think I understood you to mean that’s who was bringing them in.
I’m not really a gun guy. I took a handgun safety course recently that was outstanding. I never shot the type of weapon I trained before the course. I became a very capable handler of a handgun in just two long days of training. I believe those types of courses are very valuable and should be promoted and encouraged for those who are looking to get weapons.
We can’t require it of course, but to make them available and put more emphasis into getting people properly trained would be a plus.
but really though:
those are not the gun owners that are causing most of the problems.
It’s the criminals and the people who come unglued over something and they feel the need to make people pay…
It’s sad and wrong, but I very strongly believe that people need to be taught the value of life. Most people believe or are taught that they are just a cosmic accident and there are no consequences to their actions, so they go off and we get a news story. It’s a complicated thing. the Pandora’s box idea. once we let that out of the box and teach people they are an accident from a bubbling mud hole of evolutionary impossibilities…Sorry I’m getting off on my soap box.