With all the noise in our country about guns and the President signing executive actions for stronger back ground checks, the question is, “Should I own a gun?” “Is it right for a Christian to own a gun?” So I am going to take the next few paragraphs and try to answer a few questions about guns and owning a gun!
First of all, let me say that if you are going to own a gun you need to take some type of safety course. I have personally taken two different safety courses. One course took me four nights to complete. After the class had ended, the students were able to go to the shooting range to shoot our guns. We had safety instructors who taught the importance of treating every gun as if it were loaded. The second course I took lasted for 8 hours and was taught by a NRA certified trainer. At the end of the course we had to take a written test as well as go to the range and qualify with the gun that we would be carrying. I am very pro-gun safety. I believe that we need to teach our children the importance of treating every gun as if it were loaded, and also keep them out of reach in some type of safe where the gun and ammo have a place.
Secondly is it Biblical to own a gun? In the Bible people did not use guns. The reason for this is simple; guns had not been invented yet. The first firearm was not invented till the 13th century in China. In Bible times, they had the type of weapon that would have been equivalent to what we have today such as: swords, spears, slingshots, knives, and bow and arrows. In the Bible people used and possessed weapons to protect their family and homeland as well as to hunt with. Some of the greatest men in the Bible were warriors and had all types of weapons. We read about David’s mighty men who used weapons. I Chronicles 11:22 says,
“Benaiah the son of Jehoida, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel,
who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab:
also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.”
So we find there a man using a weapon in war to protect the king and his homeland. There are many more examples I could use for having weapons of war. Our military should have the best weapons that are known to mankind. Psalm 82:4 says,
“Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.”
How is this command possible without a gun or some type of weapon? I pray for our law enforcement daily. I have many friends who are in law enforcement, and they do their job of protecting the people very well. They need our support and prayer daily! Even though our law enforcement does their job well, they cannot be everywhere at the same time. This verse was given to us all. Therefore, it is my job to help someone who is poor and also someone who is in danger of a wicked man. Genesis 10:9 says,
“He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”
This man, Nimrod, in the Bible used his weapon for hunting. I am a big hunter and enjoy it very much! I have killed six deer so far this year and hope to get another one before this hunting season is over. Every man and lady should own a gun or bow for hunting.
People say, “Guns kill people.” I have never known a gun to shoot anyone, unless someone used that gun to shoot a person. Someone had to load it, point it, and pull the trigger in order to shoot someone. People were killing people way before the 13th century. Furthermore, if every gun was confiscated and burned, people would still find a way to kill people because the problem is not the gun, it is our wicked flesh. For this reason, we need to get the gospel to every creature and tell people about Jesus. Jesus walked in the Spirit and did not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The Bible tells us that we need to live according to Galatians 5:16 and Romans 13:14 which say,
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”
By the same token, every American needs a gun not only to protect themself and their family and friends from the wicked, and not only for hunting, but also because it is our second amendment right as an American to own a gun. We have the right to protect ourselves from an out-of-control government. George Washington said in his First Annual Address to both Houses of Congress on January 8, 1790,
“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.”
Thomas Jefferson stated in the Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776,
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
Thomas Jefferson said in a letter to James Madison on December 20, 1787,
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned
from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance.
Let them take arms!”
So I believe that every American needs a firearm! God forbid that the time should ever come to this, but we may need firearms to protect us from our government and governments abroad!
-Dan
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