11 - 18 of 18 Comments

1. nino

   2 months ago

   As a 42 year old male, who is well trained in martial arts self-defense, kickboxing and firearms, and is also working on a masters in theology, I’ve been around this debate for a long time. It’s prudential. If you don’t know what that means, don’t comment please.
   
   First, if you look at the countries that have banned guns, Australia, England, or cities or states with the highest gun control, Chicago, New York and yes, Connecticut, they all have the highest violent crime rate. Why? Because the criminals know they will get no resistance? This is the question people must ask. Cane killed Able, this has been going on since original sin stained us all. I own many guns, I have purchased them all legally, train with them, my 12 and 9 year old and wife all shoot, we never have problems and we use them for personal and home defense and for clay target shooting (shotguns). My kids know gun safety and respect them. I also drive an 8000 pound Yukon XL which I could easily ram into a crowd of people going 60 and kill at least 30-40 and not fire one shot. I also can break someone’s neck or know how to kill with my knees, elbows and fingers with one strike. Shall I personally be banned?
   
   If a bad guy breaks into your home or into the theatre or restaurant that you are in, and is hopped up on drugs, alcohol or other, on average, it takes 8 shots to render them harmless. The average shooter, under stress, is accurate to 50%. The police are accurate to 30%. They will admit, they aren’t nearly as good of a shot as those of us who practice close range tactics, fighting and gun fighting. In fact, if you look who is training the military on handgun/pistol use and the police, it’s usually civilians. We practice more, we are close range, combat pistol trained. So, the gun law in New York limiting magazines (don’t call them clips, shows you have no idea what you are talking about) to 7 rounds, is not enough to stop one bad guy, if you only hit him 2-3 times. There is a detective from Chicago, who was attacked, along with his partner. His partner shot him 5 times at close range with a 38 special. That’s a decent sized round. The bad guy did not go down. They had to engage and shoot him 14 more times, that’s 19 shots. They analyzed his blood level, he had no drugs and no alcohol, just natural adrenaline.
   
   It’s a crazy, dangerous world. I design right to life billboards for our county, I flyer the local university with abstinence literature, and I carry a gun every day. I pick ammo that won’t go through the person I am shooting and harm others, I want to NEVER EVER pull my gun on ANYONE. But if someone threatens my family with death, or myself, and I have no legitimate escape route, I will draw my weapon and I will shoot the person. To me, it’s no different than going into a mother’s womb and killing that baby with a vacuum, another instrument of death. I use a vacuum frequently and properly, to clean my rugs at home, I use a gun frequently, and properly, to train, and to defend myself and my family. I am trained to, that at all costs, get out of the situation and do not fight. I follow the CCC to the letter, I follow the general (pope). And if I were next to the pope and someone started shooting, you bet I’d draw my weapon to protect the Holy Father.
   
   I don’t like the reality of guns, but again, Cain killed Able. Criminals don’t follow the law. So banning guns does nothing but take away my law abiding right and good guys with guns, no longer have guns. It’s likely none of you have any idea who we are, us concealed carry folks. You are around hundreds of us all the time and we never shoot anyone. In fact, if you search for CCW or CHL, you will find daily articles of people who protect themselves. Women are 75% less likely to get raped if she has a gun. I don’t like rape. The more people that carry and train, means the less likely you will ever see gun violence. If a criminal knows a particular state has a lot of concealed carry folks, they are less likely to commit crimes. The shooter in Colorado passed up 4 theatres in favor of the one with the no-gun sign. He’s a criminal and doesn’t care about the sign. He’s looking for a target rich environment where he can do the most damage.
   
   Guns are not bad, knifes are not bad, my pepper spray is not bad, my tactical pen is not bad, the bad guy is the person who uses those weapons to actively harm another. Much of the abortionist instruments are not bad and medically necessary in other situations, but NOT abortion.
   
   Guns will come into this country if you ban them, just like illegal aliens, and disarming the people like me, who respects the dignity of each and every human life and wants a culture of life, only stands to create a dangerous culture. I dare anyone on this site to even tell me what gun was used at Newtown. I bet no one knows. The politicians don’t either, which is why Diane Feinstein’s gun ban list doesn’t even include that gun and has guns rarely used in crimes. Strange isn’t it. Rifles are RARELY if ever used in crimes. Stolen pistols and revolvers are used folks. Get informed and think and then read Luke 22 – where Jesus himself said, sell your cloak and buy a sword, the most dangerous weapon of our Lord’s day. It’s there, read it. And when Peter pulled his sword in the garden, He didn’t tell Peter to get rid of it, Jesus said, those who live by the sword die by the sword. I don’t live by my concealed weapon. It’s my last hope, my last defense. I will use my mouth in a peaceful way, try and escape, use my pepper spray, my marital arts or my tactical pen and as a LAST resort, use my gun. I don’t live by my gun and NEVER want to use it. But I will if I have to.
   

2. Pete Brady

   2 months ago

   I am sure that the following words of Mother Teresa have been presented here at Catholic Online before; she spoke them at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. in 1994, and they speak poignantly to this topic:
   
   "And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even His life to love us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love... the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."
   
   ANY COUNTRY THAT ACCEPTS ABORTION IS () TEACHING ITS PEOPLE ... TO USE ANY VIOLENCE TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.
   
   That, not guns, is the root cause of the problem we face.

3. J. Bob

   2 months ago

   If you read the 5th Commandment, in the original Hebrew language, it's "Not shall you murder", or shed innocent blood.. A big difference from the Greek translation, "Thou shalt not kill".
   
   A simpler approach might be to enforce the laws on the books. Even Norway, with it's laws limiting guns to "hunting & sports", still had the 70+ people slaughtered.

4. Rose

   2 months ago

   Shabad, look up the murder rates in cities like Chicago and New York which have already implemented your wanted "gun control', aka people control. Then tell me with a straight face that the days of the wild west are over. Police departments around the country are telling their citizens to arm themselves for protection because law enforcement can no longer respond in a timely manner.
   Gun ownership has worked from 1791 on, until this President decided he wanted to disarm the country. According to you, Christians have no right to self-defense. Read the catechism. Do you have children?? You would rather stand by and watch your daughter be raped or your son shot for his tennis shoes or ipod? The reality is that there are and always will be bad guys who will never change their behavior. You want to live in a utopia, which is not going to happen on this earth. You want to change the Constitution, there is a procedure for that. It's done by the vote of the people, not the pen of a president. WAKE UP!

5. Maryann Banwell

   2 months ago

   I cannot understand why so many Americans are up in arms about the Gorvernment wanting to impliment gun control. They are not talking about wanting to ban firearms totally - just these crazy weapons that casue ( and have caused so many deaths and so much suffering).One can still defend oneself with an ordinary weapon. I would think that after the horror stories that are in the news on a daily basis - all decent people would welcome such a move. Maybe - just maybe - if it were the Replicans advocating it - all those against this move would suddeny welcome it? Just saying .......
   

6. Rose

   2 months ago

   In keeping with the idea of "incorrectly framing the debate by changing the language in order to undermine the true right" I would say it also applies to the phrase "gun control." It isn't about controlling guns, it's about controlling people. Government control over our behavior. It's the same with Obamacare. It was never about providing insurance to the minority that didn't have it, it has always been about government control over our behavior.

7. Shabad Saini

   2 months ago

   This article is a very cute dance around a very harsh reality. The reality for Americans is that gun ownership is just not working out. Americans are beginning to wake up and realize that no good will come out of this.
   
   Firearms should only be in the possession of law enforcement, who are trained to use them properly and only in the administration of justice. The days of the wild west are over, where the Sheriff used to hide in his office while people had showdowns in the streets. The Constitution was formed at a very different time, and needs to be amended to address today's reality.
   
   People should not be walking around with guns, how much more do we need to see? Jesus taught us to live in peace, but we are lost in our own petty desires. Americans live in fear, and fear only leads to death.
   
   No one's self defense is being enhanced with gun ownership, this is a foolish idea. Someone can draw their own gun before you, or take it from you, and guess what, game over. Common sense, people walking around with lethal weapons is not just not a great idea.
   
   The gun registry is appealing, but is not fool proof. Who says gun shop owners will do background check on all prospective clients? How will this be enforced??
   
   As Christians we should not be focused on self defense, we should be focused on applying the teachings of our Lord and Savior, who taught us how to live peacefully and avoid violence.
   
   Do we need guns to survive? How does the rest of the world fair out?? Much better than us, and we are still hanging on to this foolish notion. Why don't apply what we have learned as Christians and wake up.
   
   Shabad

8. Jerry N

   2 months ago

   While I mostly agree with what the Deacon states, I think it is critically important to recognize that the right to keep and bear arms, as enunciated by the 2nd Amendment, has nothing to do with "the Right to Self Defense and the Defense of others." The right to self defense and the defense of others is clearly incorporated in the Declaration's God-given right to life and in the Constitution's 9th Amendment which was meant to encompass all obvious corollaries to the right to life, such as the rights to self-defense and defense of others.
   
   The 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms is clearly aimed at preserving the people's right to liberty, not their right to life or defense. A reading of the Federalist papers and numerous documented statements of the founding architects of the Constitution confirm this observation. Here are just a few examples of what the founders said about the purpose and need for the 2nd Amendment:
   
   "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined." - Patrick Henry
   
   "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.-Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.
   
   "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed..."-Noah Webster
   
   "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them."-George Mason
   
   "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."-Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787
   

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