· U.S.
Bill of Rights @ Library of Congress
· U.S. Declaration of Independence
@ Library of Congress
· U.S. Constitution @ Library of
Congress
From
the Bible, history, and personal experience,
the Lord Jesus Christ has impressed upon me the idea that
ANY PERSON OR ENTITY WHO HAS POWER OR
UNDERSTANDING
HAS A GOD-GIVEN OBLIGATION TO EXERCISE
PATIENCE AND RESTRAINT
WITH THOSE WHO LACK POWER OR UNDERSTANDING.
Lest some
accuse me of being a gun worshipper, please read this attached link before
continuing further on the current page.
Let me assure the reader that I do not idolize guns at all. Guns are tools, and any tool can be used badly
or wisely, just as kitchen knives and motor vehicles are used safely by
millions of people or to kill and maim thousands and thousands of people every
year. God Himself is on the throne of
glory; guns are not. However, I must
note the monstrous furor over firearms, that has continued from the 1980's and 1990's
on into the Twenty-first Century, an irrational public fever about whether
citizens of the United States of America have any right "to keep and to
bear arms" personally, whether it be for hunting, target practice, or
personal defense. Thomas Jefferson and
others have had some very pointed comments about this issue, with the point
aiming at the government, so that those in government would think twice before
trying to subjugate the citizenry.
Our Declaration of Independence and
U.S. Constitution plainly state the concern of our forefathers (even as they
wrote in their personal papers) regarding the issue of keeping and bearing of
personal weapons. Each of the individual states have subscribed themselves
thereto, as they came one by one to accept the tenets of these Documents:
agreeing to abide by the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of our Nation.
However, national moral character
seems to have run away, in fear of offending anyone who happens to deny that
God Himself instituted the death penalty for many crimes. Many worldly panic
stricken people are unwilling to stand up for moral righteousness: to tell of
the LORD's judgment and salvation; unwilling to speak the truth: to expose sin
and declare our righteous God's redemption; unwilling to fight for decency when
necessary, as if it would cost us too much, or upset someone. The lack of a Right
Spirit within us and among us ails our nation. Our love of the worldly and the convenient
cripples us.
Today, both violent and non-violent
criminals easily go to prison crime colleges, then go free to strike again and
again, while law abiding citizens are told they have no need nor right to
defend themselves or their families against evil. Even many preachers, congregations, and
governments of our communities refrain from adhering to doing good, and turn a blind
eye away from obeying God's ordinances of punishment for those who break His
laws. With so much emphasis on the rights of the accused and the convict, why
are we so lax in caring for the victims of crime? Where is our concern for
personal accountability and responsibility which MUST go equally in hand with
ANY discussion of or claim for rights?? How
can a guilty person have more rights than one whom he/she has abused or
vicitimized? The reader KNOWS that there
is something seriously wrong with our communities today.
Despite the personal frailties
of our forebears and ourselves, as a military veteran, having had my own blood
shed in service to our God blessed nation, I find the opinions behind most anti-gun postures to be reactionary, uninformed insults against all that
veterans have sacrificed. "The condition upon which God hath given liberty
to man is eternal vigilance." [Speech on the right of election of Lord
Mayor of Dublin, 10 July 1790 by John Philpot Curran.] Is not this
eternal vigilance spiritual in nature? Can we ever hope to have peace and liberty if
we will not humble ourselves individually and collectively before the Holy God
of Creation? There is no doubt in my
mind that many times throughout history God has sent individuals and nations
into combat to ward off, confront, or even destroy other people or nations that
refuse to repent of sinful behaviors.
We need to ask ourselves which one we would rather be, the recipient of
God's wrath or the one God chooses to use against evildoers. But, before making a hasty answer, remember
that changing the world has to start with our own personal thoughts and
behaviors. As someone once told me, assuming
that I have all my digits, if I point a finger at someone else there are at
least three of my own fingers pointing back at me. Self-control is not just a denial of worldly
pleasures, but the ability to do what is right at the right time and for the
right reason, which, according to God is also ensuring that we have a
government that is willing to execute evil doers as God has ordained, when they
refuse to repent of their evil ways.
Doing right is being able to hit your criminal target, and not the
neighbors, when you need to protect your family against criminals who attack
your family.
If, in the worldly sense, we citizens
give away the power of our enfranchised rights and privileges, as guaranteed by
our Founding Documents, then we can only blame ourselves for having helped the
government to strip us of those worldly rights and privileges. That stripping
away of citizens' liberty is happening right now in nations all over the world,
and it is especially obvious in England and Australia where the legal and
social structures most closely resemble our own. The ultimate test of our
moral fiber and character lies in how we each respond to God's invitations in Joshua
1:8, 2 Chronicles 7:14, and Jeremiah 18:7-10.
University of Chicago
Research Paper (by Lott and Mustard):
Discussion of the
Economics of Right-to-Carry Gun Laws [multiple configuration links]
I used to have a link to the National
Rifle Association's website, for the purpose of allowing the reader to quickly
refer to the NRA point of view. However,
I dropped their link because of their web practice of capturing one's browser
and not releasing it promptly when the back arrow is clicked.
· Return to Homepage
*******
Please feel free to send
real personal email to me at CMARSZ at EARTHLINK dot NET
*******
I have changed to this
descriptive format to reduce junk email.
All junk email and
solicitations are immediately discarded.