In the wake of recent
terrorist attacks I find I’m thinking more and more about the gun control
issue. For whatever it’s worth, my two
cents to follow.
I’m wondering
why politicians always seem to make a big deal out of gun control after a mass
shooting. I know as some of you read that you’re thinking “if a politician
is for more gun control isn’t that the exact time they should bring it up?” Yes, I suppose so but here’s what I’m getting
at. I agree that we have a gun violence
issue in our country, but I also believe mass shootings are not our biggest
concern when it comes to gun violence.
They make up a minute fraction of overall gun deaths; less than a tenth
of one percent to be exact. By
comparison its estimated gang related gun deaths make up around 80%. Eighty percent! Maybe our focus should be more about what we
can do to get guns off our city streets.
Maybe it would be helpful to see politicians speaking up about this
issue a bit more and proposing stricter legislation around hand guns. I came across another interesting statistic
the other day. When you look at mass
shooting deaths per one million, America ranks 9th behind many
countries with stricter gun control laws than ours. I’m not saying we shouldn’t find ways to try
and reduce mass shootings, I guess I’m just saying there doesn’t seem to be a
direct correlation between gun control and gun deaths. There are many other variables to consider.
More
importantly, I’m thinking a lot lately about what the Christian stance should
be. To profess to being a Christian is to profess to being
a follower of Jesus Christ. So would
Jesus be in favor of more gun control?
Would he want to ban all fire arms and do away with the second amendment
all together? Personally I have a hard
time saying yes to those questions but here’s what I do know; Jesus is always
about life. He came that we might have
life and life to the full (John 10:10). Jesus
sees value and dignity in all people. Poor
people, rich people, Republicans, Democrats, old people, unborn people;
everyone! We can also safely say he was against violence in general in his
command to turn the other cheek and when he told Peter to put away his
sword. For me personally, when I think
of these things it’s one of the reasons why I have no real desire to own a
gun. Don’t miss me on this. I’m still in favor of the second amendment,
and if I ever find myself staring down the barrel of someone else’s gun I’m
hopeful there will be a third party somewhere nearby ready to exercise his
right to bear arms on my behalf. But
should I not be so lucky, I’m okay with my time being up whenever that might
be. And I’ll trust that the example I’ve
shown as a follower of Christ will live on in those who have been a part of my
life. I trust they will say of me, “that
Pete Axelson was the real deal; he really loved God and loved others.” That’s enough for me.
