by Jane Daniels

Created on: February 19, 2011   Last Updated: February 20, 2011

People have the right to bear arms under the Constitution of the United States of America but, since many U.S citizens profess to be Christians, I would like to ask, 'Does God give Christians 'the right to bear arms'? Apparently, some people think so.

In defence of their 'rights', I have often heard it said that "guns don't kill people...people kill people", but isn't it closer to the truth to say that "people with guns kill more people than anyone"?

When statistics for death or murder by gunshot are shown in the media, comparing the figures for the United States with other nations, the U.S. is extremely overrepresented. * "In 2009 - the latest year for which detailed statistics are available - there were 13,636 murders in the US. Of those, 9,146 were caused by firearms."

Because it is such an ingrained part of American culture, the right to bear arms is seen as "normal" by the American people in general. It does not seem to take into consideration the appropriateness of some people to possess deadly weapons. Some unbalanced individuals have taken the lives of many innocent people, simply because they had easy access to firearms.

Is it a sensible thing to fight violence with violence? Can you prevent violence by being violent yourself? Don't you then become what you fear?

Perhaps the time has come to leave the wild west in the past.

For Christians, a principle stated by Jesus comes into focus on this issue. On the night of his arrest, when Peter drew his sword and inflicted a wound on the slave of the High Priest,  "Then Jesus said to him: “Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52) Those who take up weapons, rather than being protected, are more likely to die as a result of them.

How many children are accidently killed or wounded each year because of their parent's irresponsible gun ownership?

How many lives are lost in High School massacres, gang wars and in disgruntled employee revenge attacks?

Often young people have fed their minds on a steady diet of violent computer games. Shooting and killing are enjoyed on a daily basis in cyberspace. Does this dehumanize victims? Are today's generation completely desensitized to violence and bloodshed? How does gun ownership meld with this situation?
 
How many home invasions, 'carjackings' and other crimes are carried out at gunpoint?

When you break it all down, doesn't the 'winner' in any armed conflict depend on who has the superior weapon

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