Another mass shooting took
place last night. So tragic! My heart and prayers go out to the families of
the victims in Parkland Florida.
Understandably with every mass shooting the gun control debate comes up
again. For whatever its worth I would
like to see a ban on assault style weapons.
They're just not necessary. But
as anyone who has researched the matter will tell you it would do little to
nothing to stop gun deaths in our country.
If you are seriously angry about gun deaths this morning then you should
really be directing your anger at the sale of hand guns. The vast majority of the gun deaths in our
country are committed one at a time with hand guns. Deaths involving assault rifles are around
1%. Just google "gun deaths with
assault rifles verses hand guns” and do some reading. Understandably we are
outraged after these mass shootings. But
should we not be just as outraged about the other 99% of deaths taking place
with hand guns each and every day?
Most reading this
understand that I am a follower of Jesus.
I try to live my life by that old saying that was so trendy a few years
back, “what would Jesus do?” Knowing He is the one who told us to turn the
other cheek and who told Peter to put away his sword, I’m thinking He might
have some issues with the gun culture in our country. So I guess I part company with my usual more
conservative takes on this particular issue.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a believer in the 2nd
amendment. I’m just a believer in the
second amendment with some controls around it.
So I say ban the assault weapons and establish an extreme vetting
process for hand guns. I don’t think
hand guns should be banned all together because I realize many law abiding
citizens own them for purposes of self-defense. As a pastor I never imagined I would have to
think about the “what ifs” of a shooter coming through our door. To be honest, taking my congregation through
active shooter drills seems a little pointless to me. What would give me a lot more peace of mind
is knowing I have someone in my congregation with a license to carry.
I think these solutions I’m
suggesting might make a small dent in our country's gun violence, but to
see a significant change we need a lot more than stricter gun control. More than anything this is a moral
issue. It’s about valuing and respecting
life. It’s about more dads being present
in the home and being a good example for their sons to follow because most of
those gun deaths are committed by teenage boys and young men. A significant change in our moral compass
would do far more than any type of gun control.
The church can and should play a significant role in this. And this might sound a little simplistic but perhaps
the best way to get that started is to keep posing that question I referred to earlier;
“what would Jesus do?” I can think of no
greater respecter of life than He.
