Not long after a mass shooter claimed the lives of fifty worshipers in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand and wounded fifty more, I found myself applauding the government of New Zealand as they took swift and decisive action to ban semi-automatic weapons in the aftermath of that terrible tragedy (Graham-McLay, 2019). I also continue to despair of the fact that, despite the disturbing regularity with which mass shootings continue to occur in the United States, our government remains either unable or unwilling to fight the prevailing influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other powerful Second Amendment rights groups and pass similar legislation in our country.

I have to confess that in the past I never really thought much about guns, one way or the other.  My grandfather liked to hunt and fish, and I recall happily eating roast duck and the delicious rabbit stew that resulted from his forays into the woods.  I wasn’t vehemently opposed to guns; but I never had the desire to shoot one myself.  My attitude toward guns and gun owners was decidedly indifferent.  However, as the body count from gun-related tragedies continues to rise and the debate between gun enthusiasts and gun control advocates appears to be reaching a boiling point, it is impossible to remain on the sidelines any longer.  I saw a story on the local news recently about a gun rights rally in Springfield, Illinois, that was so upsetting my body actually shuddered as I listened to the speaker and heard the comments from the crowd.

What caused this visceral reaction?  As the reporter interviewed protesters in the large crowd, a recurring theme began to emerge.  Person after person kept proclaiming that owning a gun in the United States is a “God-given right.”  The ultimate breaking point for me, however, was when the main speaker was captured on camera telling the crowd of 8,000 that if, in response to the increasing number of mass shootings, the United States government were to demand that they relinquish their guns, they “should not comply” (Bandish, 2019).  For some reason, the combination of the phrase “God-given right” and the threat of widespread noncompliance with hypothetical gun control laws sent chills down my spine.  If people who own guns would choose to ignore laws related to their guns, what other laws might they choose to ignore?

Throughout U. S. history there have been any number of examples of so-called Christians claiming that God Himself sanctions what are really only the radical and dangerous views of narrow-minded and sinful individuals.  According to some, God has not only condoned, but actually ordained, any number of atrocities including slavery, segregation, and the denial of basic rights to women, LGBTQ individuals, the disabled, and the mentally ill. I have even heard some point to the election of Donald Trump as “God’s will.”  I identify as a Christian, (Missionary Baptist growing up, American Baptist now) and, while not a biblical “scholar”, have probably read and studied the Bible more than the average person (mostly because my mother was a Sunday School teacher for over 30 years).  However, I struggle with the concept of being able to simply claim that anything which has the potential to affect other people negatively is a “God-given right.”   But rather than dismiss the idea out of hand, I decided to do a bit of research.

Not surprisingly, however, the Bible contains a lot of contradictory information. In the book of Exodus, for example, Moses has received the Ten Commandments which are outlined in Chapter 20. Beyond the Ten Commandments, however, the next three chapters list a detailed set of laws regarding everything from the behavior of servants to rules about what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath.  Exodus 22:2 does seem to give individuals the “right” to kill a thief in order to protect their property, “If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.”  Interestingly, however, Exodus 22:3 adds the following caveat, “but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed.” So, maybe this supports the idea of having a weapon at home to defend against a “dark of night burglar”, but it definitely doesn’t condone the “open carry” laws for which some gun enthusiasts are advocating.

Most Christians are taught, however, that the arrival of Jesus means that we no longer need to strictly adhere to the complex, Old Testament laws.  So, what does Jesus say about the use and ownership of weapons?  A search of discussion forums frequented by Second Amendment rights activists reveals that they like to quote Luke 22:36, where Jesus says, ““But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”  When read in isolation, this verse does seem to suggest that Jesus is encouraging his followers to own weapons; however, like most things in life, it is actually a bit more complicated than that. A commentary by David Grabbe explains it pretty well (Grabbe).  He writes that Jesus is trying to prepare His disciples for the fact that he will soon be leaving them (at least in physical form) since this discussion takes place just shortly before Jesus is betrayed by Judas.  Jesus is reminding his followers that God has always provided for their physical needs and will continue to do so, but that things might be a bit more difficult after Jesus is “gone” in the physical sense.  In the past, they were instructed not to worry about money or material possessions but going forward they will have to think about those things a bit more which explains the instructions about taking their cloaks and bags.  The reason that Jesus instructs them to buy a sword, however, is so that an Old Testament prophecy about Jesus himself, outlined in Isaiah 53:12, can be fulfilled:

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, 
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

 Grabbe explains that Jesus is commanding the disciples to buy swords so that the they will meet the definition of “transgressors”.  Since Jesus must strictly adhere to every aspect of God’s plan for Him in order to achieve salvation for humankind, Grabbe believes that Jesus is simply ensuring that “every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed” when it comes to fulfilling the prophecy.  With that in mind, I would suggest that while those gun rights protesters may assert that gun ownership is a right provided by the U.S. Constitution, they need to leave God out of this.

At the risk of a slew of negative comments, I will even go a step further by saying that, in my view, the obsession with guns for “protection” may actually be a sign of a lack of faith. For this we can also look to the scriptures, Psalms 65: 5 -8:

5 I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. 

6 He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. 

7 My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter. 

8 Trust in God at all times, my people. Tell him all your troubles, for he is our refuge. 

             With God as our “defender, strong protector, shelter, and refuge” what more can we hope to gain by owning guns?

Works Cited

Bandish, K. (2019, March 27). 8,000 gun owners rally for rights in Springfield. Retrieved from News Channel 20: https://newschannel20.com/news/local/nearly-8000-gun-owners-rally-for-rights-in-springfield

Grabbe, D. (n.d.). Forerunner Commentary. Retrieved from Bible Tools: https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/25900/eVerseID/25900

Graham-McLay, C. (2019, April 10). New Zealand Passes Law Banning Most Semiautomatic Weapons, Weeks After Massacre. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/world/asia/new-zealand-guns-jacinda-ardern.html