Moms and Guns

This was written by a friend of mine about her experience with guns and evil in the world. You might pass this on to any who have the heebie-jeebies about having guns in their home.

Over 20 years ago, a single young woman was home alone. It was around 1 in the morning. She was awakened by noises coming from her front door. She quickly got up, grabbed her shot gun, and headed for the door. She waited, listening intently, when the door knob shook from the outside, and she heard something being wedged into the crack of the door. She shook with fear, but was more fearful of the person who was trying to break into her home... HER HOME! She became righteously angry, and pumped that shotgun shell into the chamber. It was loud, and she was right by the front door. The noise and the shaking of the door knob abruptly stopped! Her heart had been racing, then she began to hear footsteps pound the pavement. She looked out the window beside the front door, and saw a man running away! She tried to call the police... NO DIAL TONE! The wire had been cut (cell phones were not so prevalent, then). She sat in the living room of her home, trying to breathe again, thanking God that she had purchased that shot gun (and that semi-auto rifle, many years ago, to plink around at targets with friends). The intruder obviously was scared off... by the loud sound of that pump shot gun! 

Thankfully, the woman was not kidnapped, raped, murdered, tortured, or.... who knows what other things could have happened, if the intruder had gotten in! She was safe!

I know this woman... she is now happily married, is a mom to 5 beautiful kids. She loves her family, her friends, her country, and GOD.

This woman is ME! I thank God for His protection, and for the thought in my head to buy those guns to begin with. (And yes, when I first became a mom, I bought into the idea of keeping the idea of guns away from my little son. That didn't last long! He, and his brother, and their sisters are well versed in gun safety, and how to shoot!) 

Thanks for sharing, Jori! 

The national divide and the Life non sequitur

I've mumbled before about the growing chasm within our nation. Sad that a national calamity would further highlight this truth.

Consider, the folks most vocal about gun-control in the aftermath of violent tragedy are by and large the same ones who are the most vocal about unrestrained abortion. I can't figure out the logic there. Would someone enlighten me?

Sin: The root of evil

Another horrifying day in America. Children dead. Teachers dead. The heart cries out, "Why? How did this happen? How could a human being do such a thing?"  Many folks a thousand miles away spent sleepless nights wrestling with such horror. Parents stole into their children's bedroom to behold their babes and to weep.

Two common answers have swirled about in the wake of this tragedy. It's a mental illness problem, and it's a gun problem. That's Roland Martin's take at CNN, and the sentiment in the Twitter-verse:

"MORE gun control, MORE mental health services. It's no longer a debate. Never was," spewed comedian Patton Oswalt. 

He wasn't alone in his anger.

"The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy," suggested Michael Moore.

Anybody notice anything missing from these ruminations? None of these men and few talking heads hold the man accountable for his actions. Man is culpable for what he does.

Man is an independent moral agent responsible for his thoughts, words, and deeds. That's part of what is meant by God when he stated, "Let us make man in our image" (Genesis 1:26). As such, he is responsible for his choices. God went on to strip away excuses when he declared,

"What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." (Mark 7:20-23)

I do understand that some do not have all of the cognitive tools that others have. Consider the man or woman with Down's Syndrome, but when has there ever been an instance of one with a clear genetic challenge who has gone off the moral deep end and unleashed carnage on an entire school or anything even approximating such atrocity? Rather you'll find the average Down's individual a more moral and compassionate individual than an individual with the standard chromosomal alignment. Nope, if you peek into the cells of butchers like the one in Connecticut, you'll find a set up much like mine or yours.

But what of their past, what of their environment? This has been the focus of modern psychology. We are not responsible for what we do because we are machines, experts assert, and are simply the product of our past and our environment. Does anything that has ever happened to me in the past justify my murdering twenty kids? God doesn't seem to think so. In fact, he goes so far as to command that we control our reactions to slights and affronts.

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, commands them to,

"Repay no one evil for evil...If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”" (Romans 12:17a, 19)

From the time of the Fall of Man, man's rebelliousness against God and his commands have plagued him and his relationship with his fellow man. He destroys himself and all that is good. Little points to the veracity of the Bible more than what's happening in the world around us. How can man who on the one hand seems to be able to do such good turn about and unleash such evil?

Anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists continue to wrestle with that question, but thousands of years ago, God had recorded for his creatures the truth. Man, created in God's image, has rebelled against his Creator, and while he still carries that image (and thereby the capability for good), that image is marred beyond man's ability to restore it leaving him ever in a struggle against an innate hostility toward God and toward the good.

If you get right down to it, if there is no God, who can say such barbarity is wrong? Is it not survival of the fittest in a world that is red in tooth and claw? But we rail against such a notion. We know such conduct is evil because we were created in God's image, marred though we be. 

So what is it then that causes a man to gun down innocents? The same thing that makes a man cheat on his wife. The same thing that makes a man rob a convenience store. The same thing that makes a man slander a political opponent. It is the sinfulness of man's own heart.

It is for this very reason that Jesus Christ bore in himself the penalty of mankind's rebellion against God. His vicarious sacrifice for us provided the means of justice in dealing with such rebellion by which God's righteousness might be satisfied and by which man might be restored in his relationship to God. Paul went on to declare of the one who has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to himself thusly:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A bit later, Paul declares how this took place:

"For our sake he made him (Jesus Christ) to be sin who  knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (5:21)

Even as a Christian, the struggle against our sinful nature remains (Romans 7:23, 1 John 1:8), but as a Christian, God empowers us (Philippians 2:13) and disciplines us (Hebrews 12:7-10) that our minds and our lives might be transformed to a thing that is pleasing to God (Romans 12:1-2).

And so when horrors like those of this past week come, we grieve. Man's rebellion against God continues to slap us in the face, but we do not have to grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). God has provided the solution to such evil by bearing himself the ultimate penalty that was due to each one of us.

This is the only answer (Acts 4:12). We just choose to ignore it.

Conceal carry: "You'll have to leave that in the car"

Does it strike you as ironic (tragic may be a better word) that the locations chosen for mass murders by gunmen are places that citizens are not permitted to carry concealed weapons themselves?


Many theaters ban those who have a concealed handgun license (CHL) from doing so on their premises.


Colleges and universities ban those who have a CHL from doing so on their premises.


So, too, hospitals.


Such folks cannot carry on the grounds of public education, elementary through high school.


The only mass murder in Texas in recent memory occurred on, of all places, a military installation (Fort Hood) where it is--you guessed it--illegal to carry. Let's see, when I flew the F-16, I was entrusted to take off carrying 500 rounds of live 20mm ammunition and 4000 pounds of high explosives and to not drop them on an American city, but I can't carry my 9mm with me on base???


I agree that not just anyone should be allowed to tote a weapon into these locations, but for those who have been through the screening and the training, I'm at a loss for why folks cannot carry in these places?


There are two locations here in Texas that I somewhat understand and can abide when it comes to banning firearms.  One is in establishments where liquor accounts for over 51% of the sales. You wouldn't want some guy getting all liquored up and bandying his .45 about lamenting Leona Mae's leaving him. The other is in stadium events where security is already very tight. And in reality, a case could be made for carrying in those locations, too.


The tidbit of logic that seems to escape the gun-controllers is that when guns are banned in a particular location, the only people who won't tote a gun into that place are law abiding citizens. A "NO GUNS ALLOWED" sign isn't going to slow a crook or a nut job for a picosecond, and then you've just opened up the folks therein, those you were trying to protect in the first place, to criminal mischief.

A few years back, while visiting my mom in Wisconsin, we stopped by an A & W Root Beer diner. It happened to be the week that Wisconsin began its foray into CHL life. Needless to say, the lefties around Madison were coming unglued.


On the door of the A & W of all places was a very legal "no guns allowed" sign. While we drowned ourselves in icy cold, on-tap root beer, I took the opportunity to chat with the manager.


"I saw your sign banning folks from carrying firearms into your establishment."


"Yes, sir," she responded.


"Do you understand that folks who have a CHL have to go through training and a background check to be able to carry their weapon?"


"No sir, I didn't," she answered honestly.


"Do you understand that law-abiding folks, when they see your sign, will respect the wishes of your establishment and leave their guns in their vehicles, but that sign will do absolutely nothing to thwart criminals from toting their .357 into your establishment and robbing you blind?"


"Um..."


"Did you know that the only reason I carry is to protect my family from harm, and that your sign prevents me from doing that and potentially from protecting any of your customers from harm?"


"Gee, sir, I hadn't thought of it that way. The owners of the establishment had those signs put up but I will pass on to them your concerns.  Thank you."


"My pleasure," for it truly was.


Is it really that hard? CHL folks aren't looking for the first opportunity to pull a John Wayne and start shooting up the place. You see, John never did that. Bad guys do that. John Wayne pulled his gun when the bad guys pulled theirs (like this).


If anything, the nightmare in Aurora should ease the constraints upon those who carry and not further restrict them. Further restrictions will only delight the thugs and endanger the citizens.


That's dumber than rocks.

Consequences: Gun control

As sure as thunder follows lightning, April follows March, and the paparazzi follow scandal, you can bank on (poor choice of words) the gun control reactionaries to follow any tragic shooting with apoplectic cries for more stringent gun control.

In the past few weeks, America witnessed a number of lawless individuals unleash their evil upon the innocents. They happened to use guns. Wait for it. Wait for it. Ah, there it is. Faster than a bank bailout, stronger than the Treasury department, able to leap Barney Frank in a single bound, John Kerry to the rescue with his call for greater gun control (here).

Why, why, why, Delilah, do they continue to restrict the acquisition of weapons for those who purchase them through lawful channels?

The Democratic Party continues to be hostile toward gun ownership in our nation which is why if you go to any outlet that sells weapons or ammunition, you see the shelves picked clean. When folks anticipate scarcity, they make a run on that product. Before hurricanes, folks stock up on the staples, food and water. When citizens anticipate the government legislating away weapons and ammunition, they will load up (good choice of words) on handguns, rifles, shot guns, and pea shooters.

The logic staggers. The drug cartel in Mexico scoop up guns in the U.S. If we outlaw them in the U.S. to prevent the cartel from acquiring them, they will get them via other means. The final outcome is that we have disarmed our citizens thereby preventing them from protecting themselves against the lawless ones coming across our borders.

The problem is not the guns. The problem lies in the heart and soul of the people wielding the guns. Wickedness. Immorality. Evil. Lawlessness. It doesn't matter if it's a person singular or a person in a group or cartel, the outside can only reflect the inside. These people exhibit man's natural rebellion against God. Taking their guns away will not change a corrupt heart.

I hear thunder. And it bodes ill.