I became acquainted with this phrase ( Guns don't kill people; people with guns kill people ), about 25-30 years ago. The same holds as true with rocks, and the principle behind this phrase holds true, as well, of the fist, the foot, or anything at all that could be used as a weapon to hurt or kill someone else. A 1973 Oldsmobile comes to mind........awesome weapon!
The news media, as usual, has moved on to splatter our front-pages with the latest ( worst ) news. The Sandy Hook tragedy now past, the news media has been covering, though not to the same extent, interestingly enough, an old enemy, the debate on whether or not to, and even to what extent to ban guns. I say 'an old enemy', because this debate has been raging, though usually in the background, for decades now. Although this seeming 'solution' to a symptom has convinced many of its effectiveness, this debate, and the accompanying legislation ( some of which is already in effect ) has been shown to be, in reality, ineffective at the least, and downright dangerous ( insidious ) at worst!
Many questions could be asked in regard to this legislation, questions like, 'if good, law-abiding ( though ignorant ) citizens 'dutifully' ( ? ) obey this legislation and get rid of their guns, and criminals, who are usually not thought of as law-abiding, disobey it; who has the guns?'
Among many gun-owners, the more freedom-minded in particular, there is a notion that has been circulating for years that the reasons behind all this anti-gun legislation are especially insidious. The theory, and I had been inclined to believe it, is that this is what happened in Nazi Germany right before its takeover by the National Socialist Party under Hitler. One can read all the propaganda on both sides and decide for themselves, but I think it is far from clear that this is what happened! ( And please don't get me wrong; I am NOT advocating Nazism, Socialism, or saying that Hitler was a nice guy, really! )
Back to the issue at hand, Solomon tells us, in Proverbs 4:23, 'Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it [ spring ] the issues of life': Jesus told the multitudes that listened to Him, that 'out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies' ( Matthew 15:19 ). History, and not just Scriptural history ( think of Sampson's jawbone 'incident' in Judges 15 ) makes abundantly manifest the fact that if someone wants ( or needs ) to kill another human being, he's going to do so with whatever weapon first comes to hand, even his bare hands if that'll 'do the trick'! Sure, a gun, because of the element of surprise and the longer-range effectiveness ( sometimes ) makes it easier to kill, but history is clear; if someone wishes to kill another, he ( or she ) is going to do so, even if it means just giving them a push ( over a cliff )!
So; as we have seen from the two quoted Scriptures, and honestly, we can all personally attest to this, the 'heart' is where it all starts! Sure, we can blame our failings ( and we usually do ) on anything but ourselves, whether it be our environment, a fallen 'spiritual' being named 'Satan', on video games, or even the way the news media seems to 'glorify' violence, but when it comes down to it, we're the ones who make the choice. That's why Solomon said in his wisdom that we should guard our 'hearts'. Even though they didn't have video games back then ( to say nothing of guns ), there was plenty of wickedness and violence that they needed to guard their 'hearts' from.
Banning guns will never stop the killings! You may have heard the saying, 'if we can save just one life, it'll be worth it'. Sounds almost worthily self-sacrificial, right? Wrong!!! Besides being a forced ( legislated ) sacrifice ( our freedoms for the possibility of saving 'just one'? ), we can simply point back to a fact that was pointed out earlier; if criminals are the only ones with guns, how long do you think it would take for that 'one' to be saved by an outright ban ( unless the 'one' was a criminal )?
One may postulate that if the Sandy Hook murderer had only been able to get a 7-round clip for his Bushmaster rather than the 30-round, that 20 less people may have died: that's entirely possible, but not likely, and really, truly, it's beside the point ( WAY BESIDE THE POINT )! Oh wait; ban all assault weapons, especially ones that can hold more than five rounds; that way not as many will die next time!
HOW MUCH SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously?
Charles Haddon Shank
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