Two school shootings have made headlines recently, and they have sparked on more talk and interest in the whole gun debate. Before I get started, I’d like to say to anyone who has lost a loved one in gun violence that I am so, so sorry. I cannot imagine how much pain that must bring, and what a horrible thing it was that happened. Please know that my prayers are for you and I do not wish that horrible type of event on anyone. With that said I must move on, though, sadly, I could sit here and write a eulogy for hours.
For as long as I can remember paying attention to what people were saying about this debate, I have heard two basic, consistent sides of the argument: guns are ok and can even be helpful, or guns are bad and should be banned. Before I get further and waste your time, I will tell you that I am of the former view, so if you don’t like hearing other’s opinions or are easily offended, this post may not be for you. Those who wish to keep reading, thank you. At the roots of these two sides is the question of whether or not guns are bad, and, to be honest, this is a rather silly question. Guns are inanimate objects that have no sovereign will over themselves. They cannot choose whether to do this or that, they cannot choose what or when to shoot, and they certainly cannot choose who’s hands they fall into. It’s the people behind the guns that do bad things. Let’s put it like this: if a person gets sick from eating too many cookies, who’s fault is it? Is it the cookie, or the person’s? Did the flour decide it wanted to get out of the pantry, mix itself with eggs and sugar, and bake itself? Did the sinister freshly baked cookies plot to wait until the person fell asleep so they could sneakily climb into their mouth and make them sick? No! It is the person, and solely the person, who decided to make the cookies and eat too many. No cookie walked into their mouth on their own. No other person shoved it down their throat. When applying this logic to guns, it is easy to see who is responsible.
People are inclined to evil. God brought us into this world as neutral, but we, as humans, chose evil over God’s good. Humans, as part of the fallen race, choose evil. Without God we are lost and broken and choose to do wrong, hurtful things all the time. Gun violence is no different. If a gun were to be on a shelf, it would sit there not moving until it rusted and fell apart. Think of Newton’s law of motion: an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Guns do not hurt people. People hurt people, and, tragically, a common tool they use is guns.
So why don’t we just ban all guns and then all of us can live free from violence and be happy? Sounds great, huh? But, banning guns will do absolutely nothing. How many guns are out there in this world? Thousands? Millions? A lot. No one can regulate them all, and even though the government may look strong and powerful, they cannot know every little detail of every person’s life. Ever. So does that mean they could miss guns? Oh yes!! Not to mention all the guns sold on the black market…the only problem banning guns would solve is, well, it wouldn’t solve any problem, it would create one. It would take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens rendering them with little defense against someone who has illegally bought a gun on the black market and decided to use it for evil.
What can we do about it? “Walking out” of school will do little, if not nothing beyond selfishly drawing attention to yourself. It proves nothing and changes nothing. It’s only accomplishment is raising awareness to others about gun violence–but what does mere awareness do in the long run anyway? Without a cure, we can be “aware” of cancer all we want and still have no way to save a sick patient. The only thing that will change anything in our broken world is God’s love. As I said earlier, all people are inclined to evil. Our very hearts (where every one of our thoughts and actions originate according to Proverbs 4:23) are inclined to evil (see Genesis 2-3 where it talks about the fall). Therefore, there is nothing we can do on our own to change that or to change others, but there is hope. God changes hearts with his love and mercy. He softens people and shows them the hope and life he offers, even while we live in a world of believable lies. Hurt people hurt people, but God heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). So our first course of action is not to stand or walk away, but to do get down on our knees and pray. When we have supplicated to God, he will give us the Spirit’s power to change lives. Then, and only then, will our world change, and this violence and evil will decrease.
Graced 