Freedom, Your Rights, and God
Why evangelicals who fight any impingement on their right to own guns are missing the point.
I hadn’t planned on tackling this issue yet, but after more mass shootings made the news, I realized my take on gun control is actually quite simple.
Opinion: Christians should support more restrictions on gun ownership because they’re called to love sacrificially.
To my fellow Christians, I hope this post will inspire you to examine your own heart and conscience to see whether you can align your position on gun control more closely with the love of Jesus.
To liberal readers, you probably support tighter restrictions on guns already. Evangelicals make up a large proportion of Republicans, so you’d be more likely to pass substantial reforms with some of them supporting you. This post contains the reminders I think will be most persuasive to those who are truly trying to be Christian.
It will take all of us working together to address the problem, but just like we did with smoking and car accidents, we can.
The unfortunate facts
You probably know many of the statistics already. In the US, gunshots are now the leading cause of death for children ages 1–19, with homicide outpacing suicide and accident. Gun violence is on the rise.
When you include suicide, gunshots kill more people than car accidents. (Notably, we have actively tried to make accidents less fatal since cars were introduced).
Even funding the study of gun violence was effectively prohibited at the federal level until 2018, and appropriations are still a mere $25M, compared to $6.56B for cancer research. That’s 262 times more funding, while cancer deaths in 2020 were only 13.8 times the number of gunshot deaths in the same year.
Most attempts to enact stricter regulations on gun ownership have been stymied. While a few laws have passed, enforcement remains lax; for example, only 1.6% of gun dealers with verified violations have had their licenses revoked. Other regulations were passed too late to make a difference, such as the 2018 ban on selling bump stocks (devices that increase the fire rate of semi-automatic weapons), which left over half a million such devices in civilian hands.
Does gun control work?
In short, yes — restrictions on gun ownership reduce the number of gun deaths. States with more restrictive gun laws have, on average, fewer gun deaths per capita.
Personally, I have no problem banning large categories of guns, but that’s only one possible solution. The bad and good thing about the problem of gun violence is that no one policy will solve it. There’s plenty of room for new ideas and compromising.
You can ban certain weapons outright: states with fewer guns owned have fewer police deaths. You can require more comprehensive background checks: states that do have 10% fewer homicides and “markedly lower rates of firearm suicide.” You can improve mental health care; that probably wouldn’t prevent mass shootings, but it could certainly decrease the number of suicides, which account for 60% of gun deaths.
There’s not much research on training requirements, licensing, gun storage, or concealed-carry permits, so getting more data would be a great start. Research, research, research — which means funding.
Evangelicals and guns
While 30% of all American adults report owning a gun, 41% of white, self-identified evangelicals do. (Statistics in this section come from this report unless otherwise linked.) Of those gun-owning evangelicals, 57% of them say protection is the most important reason, and 77% say they feel safer with a gun.
Naturally, that affects their opinions on gun control. White evangelicals are predominantly Republican, and their opinions on gun control generally aligns with that party’s. Only 32% of them want gun laws to be stricter, compared to 52% of Americans overall.
That said, I don’t believe any Christian wants shootings to happen. Russell Moore, a Christian ethicist and gun control opponent, writes,
The gun control debate [within Christianity] isn’t between people who support the right to shoot innocent people and those who don’t. It’s instead a debate about what’s prudent, and what’s not, in solving the common goal of ending criminally violent behavior.
Whether they own guns or not, 70% of evangelicals say that the right to own guns is essential to their sense of freedom. What concerns me is that they would cling to that right in the face of all the statistics about guns.
It’s not about you(r rights)
Yes, Americans have the right to own guns. But being a Christian is not about standing up for your rights. Let’s not forget the words of the Apostle Paul (i.e., Saint Paul):
“I have the right to do anything,” you say — but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” — but not everything is constructive.
Jesus voluntarily relinquished his place in Heaven so that he could come to earth, taking on all the frailties of a human body, and show us God’s love by dying on a cross. Then he asked us to follow his example.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
If Jesus can leave the throne of heaven for our sake, surely we can let go of a few guns to save lives.
When his disciple, Peter (i.e., Saint Peter), acted with violence, Jesus responded, “all who draw the sword die by the sword,” then immediately followed with, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” He didn’t gloat about his divinity, nor did he succumb to the temptation to demonstrate it for others.
If Jesus didn’t demand his rights, surely we don’t have to, either.
Moreover, Jesus loved others radically, sacrificially, and without prejudice. It was common in Jesus’ time to offer foot-washing to one’s guests, who had usually arrived on foot. However, it was considered demeaning — the servants did it, not the hosts. But Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, then explained, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (emphasis mine).
If Jesus loved others more than his own reputation, surely we can love others more than we love having fun with guns.
Do you love me more than these?
Christians, let’s root our freedom and security in Jesus, not only in guns that might make us feel safer but statistically endanger others.
When Jesus was sending out his disciples, he told them,
Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. What is the price of two sparrows — one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
There are legitimate reasons to own and use guns. I ask that you interrogate your own motivations when you think about restricting gun ownership. Do you truly want to reduce gun violence? Or are you secretly more worried about losing a small part of your freedom or enjoyment?
Then advocate for whatever policies make sense to you.
