Gun Control or Sin Control

Every time there is a vile crime committed with a gun, we find ourselves bombarded by a plethora of proposals allegedly designed to prevent gun violence. Some of these proposals are utterly absurd, such as declaring certain places to be "gun-free zones," which is tantamount to declaring those areas to be "shooting galleries" by announcing that it is likely to be filled with unarmed people. Most mass shootings tend to occur in "gun-free zones." Who wants to have someone shoot back at them? NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” He is right. Anything else violates common sense.

 

Anti-gun people, in spite of their absurd proposals, are thought by some to be heroes, while gun owners are vilified in the media and by many politicians. Taking guns out of the hands of potential victims in order to stop the criminals makes as much sense as a teacher punishing the whole class except for the one student who is causing problems.

 

Other proposals involve outlawing "assault weapons" (a made-up term that does not apply to any legally-owned gun) and "high capacity clips," which is another indicator that the people who talk the most about guns are those who know the least about them. A "clip" and a "magazine" are not the same thing. But hey, who cares about accuracy and truth if it will hurt the agenda? This stuff is reminiscent of the old argument from several years ago that we needed to outlaw the "Saturday night special," another made-up term that describes no firearm that ever existed.

 

New proposals and recycled ones continue to emerge, quite often from those in Washington who demonstrate hypocrisy by having armed bodyguards and, in some cases, by carrying firearms themselves. They seem to have the attitude that they and their children deserve to be protected, but everyone else and their children can just be targets.

 

Of course, there is this little thing called the Constitution that gets in their way, and most of their proposals violate the Second Amendment by infringing on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. This is a tough one for them to get around, especially since the Supreme Court has declared the obvious – that the right to keep and bear arms, just like all of the Bill of Rights, is an individual right of U.S. citizens. Most of the "gun control" proposals are unconstitutional, silly, ridiculous, and absurd. Nevertheless, they are generally presented as "common sense" measures to prevent gun violence. In truth, most of them have no effect and some even have a reverse effect.

 

Just to illustrate absurdity by being absurd, I might as well add my own idiotic proposal, because it makes as much sense as most of what is coming out of our politicians. Following is my proposal:

 

We know that a large percentage of gun crimes are committed with stolen guns. All we have to do is make a new law (Isn't that always the answer? Make a new law.) that says all criminals must submit to a background check and purchase a "gun stealing license" before they are allowed to steal a gun and then wait fifteen days before stealing it. After they steal it, they must register it. That way, after they commit their gun crime, they will be easier to catch. This will work because we know that criminals always obey the laws. If they see a sign that says "gun-free zone," they simply slink away and find something else to do, so obviously if they know it is illegal to steal a gun without a background check and without a license, they simply will not do it.

 

Does that sound absurd? Obviously it does, so I fully expect some elected official to pick up on it and propose it, because it is very much like all of the other foolish gun-control laws and proposals.

 

It really is time to start dealing with the problem instead of blaming other people or inanimate objects for the evil things committed by criminals. The problem is what the Bible calls "the exceeding sinfulness of sin" (Romans 7:13).  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Those who commit crimes are responsible for what they do. We are all responsible for our actions. This concept seems to have been lost in our culture.

 

Sin is a real issue in this world today. Human beings need to be saved from their sin by the Lord Jesus Christ. The necessity of salvation has been illustrated since the Old Testament Law was given to Moses. The Bible clearly points out that the law does not make anyone righteous. It only points out how short we fall of reaching God's perfect standard of righteousness. The same is true today. Congress can make all the laws it wants, and the President can hand down all the executive orders he wants, but none of these things will stop violence, because none of them can possibly change the nature of man. Only salvation by grace through faith can give man a new nature, forgive his sin, and declare him to be righteous.

 

The message we need today is not more patriotism, more Americanism, more gun control, less gun control, more welfare, higher taxes, lower taxes, etc. The only message that can truly change lives is the message of the Gospel:  "... I declare to you the gospel...by which also you are saved...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3-4, NKJV).