The recent shootings in Colorado Springs, Colorado
and San Bernardino, California and the inevitable response
by many politicians and members of the media make me want to shout, "Enough
politicizing of shootings!" As a well-known politician once said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to
waste." Too many politicians
and others jump on terrible crimes in order to
further their agendas. They may give lip-service to the suffering of the victims
and their families, but that usually fades into the background as they seek to
push their agendas by blaming Christians, the NRA, Republicans, gun stores, the Second Amendment, and
anyone or anything else they can think of who very likely had nothing to do with it, before
finding out the facts. Rarely do they concentrate on the actual perpetrators of the crime, because they have been "mistreated" and/or are "misunderstood." "Political correctness" continues to control
the narrative until the ugly truth comes out.
They immediately propose
more "gun-control" laws, usually ignoring the fact that shootings
almost universally occur in places with very strict gun laws, and more
specifically in "gun-free zones." They also seem to ignore the fact that those committing such crimes
are in violation of many laws, and will very likely violate any future laws. Criminals, by definition, are not the people who
choose to obey laws. In almost every case, those on whom they originally cast
aspersions have nothing to do with it, and the actual perpetrators are
other than those they attempted to blame. They end up looking
foolish for jumping to conclusions, but that fact is usually ignored.
Real people die in these
violent crimes of evil. Here in Colorado Springs, the police officer who was
killed was a husband, father of two, an elder in his church, and even though I
did not know him personally, one of my brothers in Christ. He willingly went
into harm's way in an attempt to save lives. Every time such a shooting occurs,
people with guns are called in to help, because they are the only ones who can
help. Almost always, they arrive too late to stop the carnage. Victims who must
run and hide or attempt to fight back with whatever improvised weapons they can
find have little chance of survival and even less chance of stopping the
shooting.
I will start respecting anti-gun politicians when they get rid of their
armed bodyguards, including the Secret Service. They seem to believe they and
their families should be protected by guns, while everyone else only needs
signs that say "Gun-Free Zone." Of course, if they did attempt to
live by their philosophy of "all guns are evil and should be taken away,"
I could respect them for not being hypocrites. However, I still could not
respect their foolish and illogical position on the issue until someone makes a
lucid and common-sense argument that explains how disarming potential victims
somehow makes them safer. With notable exceptions, in most of these cases no
one has the capability of shooting back until the police arrive. Many clichés
are true, and one of the most cogent is this:
"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."
The problem is not "gun-control"
laws or lack of them, lack of self-esteem, lack of education, problems with the
economy, racism, "climate change," or any other external thing people want to blame. The problem
is the sin nature running amok and the resulting evil behavior. Evil is real, and
no amount of pretending otherwise by our politicians, the media, and others
will change that. We don't need more laws. We need strict enforcement of the
laws we already have. "Because the sentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them
to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11, NKJV).
The only real answer to the
problem is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its power to redeem sinners. The
Gospel is "... that Christ died FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day..." (1
Corinthians 15:3-4, NKJV). Sinners need a Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ is
the only one who can redeem us. Those who ignore that fact will continue to
experience the meaninglessness and frustration of living, without answers, in
this world full of evil. "Grace to you and peace
from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who
gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father, to
whom be glory forever and ever" (Galatians 1:3-5, NKJV).
I touched on this topic in a post back in 2012, which can be seen here.
