Trust in your god and believe in a better future.

I have no hesitation in standing behind gun control because I grew up in a time when a part of the country I lived in tore itself apart – ‘Christians’ blowing the arses off ‘Christians.’ Along with grief and misery, there was another legacy. Guns, once the tool needed to free us from Imperialism, gained a form of acceptance and are now a regular part of the underworld of my beloved hometown.

Some would say that it is of no matter; that it’s just drug dealers killing drug dealers but I cannot accept that. Children of the Republic the gun helped us to achieve are now murdering each other with little regard. The legacy of the gun is a shadow we cannot be free of. Once guns come into play, they are very hard to get rid of.

This is also true of America where it is widely believed that the infallible Founding Fathers meant for Americans to bear arms. But are we expected to believe that these men would want the reality that is gun violence? The ‘Right’ to ‘Bear Arms’ probably had more to do with a citizen’s right to defend themselves against the oppression of their rulers. That this ‘Right’ could be the rationale for the types of slaughter we experience, over and over, is a total distortion. And for those who use fear as an argument for guns, I would point to spiritual principles.

Many of our gods and idols preached non-violence. Christ, in particular, went as far as allowing himself to be killed rather than resist. Yes! Jesus Christ made a point of this and made it very clear that fear was an insult to Faith. In this we had martyrs who gladly allowed themselves to be killed as a token of their Love and Faith. From that we can only assume that true followers would reject violence – and fear.

Fear is a great motivation. In fear we can find reason to fight each other and to hate, and dehumanise, and to kill. To spread fear is to reject everything Christ, and others,  stood for – without exception!

The American belief in the security of guns might be the seed planted by those who make and sell guns. That’s right. Fear is a marketing tool and we are asked to believe that ‘guns don’t kill people – that people kill people.’ If there is any logic in that then it is obvious that people should not have easy access to guns. And while hunters, etc., argue for their right, I would concede a little but refuse to believe that semi-automatics are ever required. I once hunted and never encountered any form of animal life that could fire back. Except for my fellow human beings.

Others point to the need for security but a quick look at statistics shows that lax control goes hand in glove with higher gun fatalities.  Likewise, those States that rely on guns for security spend more time in War than Peace. We are flawed enough to find ways of killing each other and that is the tragedy of our condition. Knowing this it only seems reasonable to limit our access to weapons.

Do not give into fear. Trust in your god and believe in a better future. It’s the least we deserve.