The Road to Solutions: Standing in Unity Against Gun Violence
305 Chicagoans were murdered in the first seven months of 2012; the vast majority of them were victims of gun violence. Stories like that of 7-year old Heaven Sutton, gunned down in June by a stray bullet as she sat next to her mother at a candy stand outside their home, capture headlines. But gun violence is so commonplace in Chicago that murders rarely receive media attention. The gun-related tragedies in Chicago, where I live, are just one more reminder that gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in the United States.
As has been the case in each round of the Alternative Political Conversation, these short essays can only scratch the surface of the complex issues we are asked to address. I applaud the contributors for offering many insights into the gun issue and highlighting concerns that we all need to consider.
Three common themes struck me as most significant: the gun problem is a cultural problem with deep roots, there are no simple solutions for reducing gun violence in the United States, and Christians need to provide a voice that defends the sanctity of human life.
The authors offer a range of suggestions for what seem to be common sense restrictions on gun use. Steve Monsma is the most specific, listing five policy steps that encourage more responsible gun ownership. I found his first four suggestions helpful and wise. I’m less enamored with the requirement that guns be stored in locked cabinets. I share Steve’s assessment that this is a practice that reasonable persons should be expected to do; I part ways with him in wanting such a provision written into law. He notes that such a provision would be hard to enforce. In my view, the complexities of enforcement are a significant problem. The law would indeed send a positive message about gun safety, but I am less comfortable about what it implies about the reach of government into private homes. To Steve’s constructive list of suggestions, I would add the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban that was allowed to sunset in 2004.
Summarizing his position, Eric Teetsel notes: “putting aside extremists on both sides of the debate, sensible laws are uncontroversial.” I concur, but I would add that it is impossible to put aside at least one organization that has been central to gun control politics, the National Rifle Association. The NRA has moved quite some distance from its original purpose, best encapsulated in the motto inscribed on its headquarters building in 1957: “Firearms Safety Education, Marksmanship Training, Shooting for Recreation.” NRA lobbyists now battle any and all legislative restrictions on guns and bullets, no matter how reasonable they might appear. The NRA weilds significant electoral fire-power (pun intended) and has demonstrated many times over the power to mobilize the grassroots and inject significant money into political campaigns. Elected officials in both parties run scared.
Just ask Republican Debra Maggart who recently lost her primary battle to retain her seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives. The NRA was unhappy with Maggart’s work helping stop a “guns in parking lots bill.” Despite Maggart’s 100% pro-gun voting record, the NRA endorsed her challenger and poured $75,000 into the race. NRA-backed Courtney Rogers won the primary, 3,392 to 2,421 votes.
Some gun regulations make bipartisan common sense to most observers and would likely be wise policy to encourage gun safety and save lives, but the political reality is that almost any such bill would be dead on arrival. As David Gushee notes, “we need politicians with the courage to face down the ridiculous and in fact lethal demands of the gun lobby.” To that I would add, and we need voters willing to do their homework on gun laws instead of blindly following the NRA.
Eric’s essay concludes with the observation that “regulations won’t stop those keen on breaking the law.” He is right, which brings me back again to the central themes from all three essays.
We as Christians need to stand in unity against our culture of violence and in defense of the sanctity of all human life. The causes of violence are myriad; easy access to guns is only a small part of a much deeper societal problem. We need to be finding ways to work together—Democrats, Independents, and Republicans; gun owners or not—to demonstrate love for God and neighbor, helping meet human needs and pointing people to Jesus Christ as the ultimate source of hope and life.
I find the American obsession with guns to be very distressing. I have not fired a gun since I was in the army over 50 years ago, and I have no intention of doing so now. My friends in other countries are baffled by the massive amounts of gun violence that occur here. I am not even sure the 2nd amendment belongs in the Constitution any longer because there is no needed for a "well-regulated militia" that justifies the right to keep and bear arms. I would be happy to see it go like the provisions that that justified slavery, but in today's political climate that certainly is not going to happen. I listen to all these pious evangelicals claim to be "pro-life" but yet they advocate the retention and use of firearms. Like in most other politico-social issues today, they are more likely to be "pro-death." I can proudly say that even though I now live in the most reactionary part of the country, there are no firearms in my home. Nor did I allow my children to be trained to use them. Such instruments of death and destruction have no place in a Christian home. Such is my opinion.
I find the American obsession with guns to be very distressing. I have not fired a gun since I was in the army over 50 years ago, and I have no intention of doing so now. My friends in other countries are baffled by the massive amounts of gun violence that occur here. I am not even sure the 2nd amendment belongs in the Constitution any longer because there is no needed for a "well-regulated militia" that justifies the right to keep and bear arms. I would be happy to see it go like the provisions that that justified slavery, but in today's political climate that certainly is not going to happen. I listen to all these pious evangelicals claim to be "pro-life" but yet they advocate the retention and use of firearms. Like in most other politico-social issues today, they are more likely to be "pro-death." I can proudly say that even though I now live in the most reactionary part of the country, there are no firearms in my home. Nor did I allow my children to be trained to use them. Such instruments of death and destruction have no place in a Christian home. Such is my opinion.
I find the American obsession with guns to be very distressing. I have not fired a gun since I was in the army over 50 years ago, and I have no intention of doing so now. My friends in other countries are baffled by the massive amounts of gun violence that occur here. I am not even sure the 2nd amendment belongs in the Constitution any longer because there is no needed for a "well-regulated militia" that justifies the right to keep and bear arms. I would be happy to see it go like the provisions that that justified slavery, but in today's political climate that certainly is not going to happen. I listen to all these pious evangelicals claim to be "pro-life" but yet they advocate the retention and use of firearms. Like in most other politico-social issues today, they are more likely to be "pro-death." I can proudly say that even though I now live in the most reactionary part of the country, there are no firearms in my home. Nor did I allow my children to be trained to use them. Such instruments of death and destruction have no place in a Christian home. Such is my opinion.