Now would be a good time to remind everyone that my thoughts here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my home church or denomination. There. Disclaimer done…
I don’t usually plan on posting more than once in a week, but I find that my mind is taken over for the moment by the latest school shooting, this time at Abundant Life school in Madison, Wisconsin. As of this writing, one student, one teacher, and the student who committed the attack are dead. 6 others are wounded. Countless more are traumatized. And a second grader called 911 to report the attack. A second grader.
My heart is ripped over this one and I cannot imagine what is going on with the families who are directly impacted.
10 years ago, in April of 2014, my own high school (15 years after I went there) was the subject of another mass attack. One student came into the school and brutally attacked and injured 20 people. Thankfully, none were killed.
Aside from the age of the students involved, there was one major difference between these two stories: At my high school, the attacker did not have access to a gun, so he grabbed kitchen knives.
Let me be clear, not having access to guns didn’t stop that attack from occurring. It didn’t stop whatever underlying problem the attacker was experiencing that made him feel like this was the course of action that made the most sense for him. But seatbelts don’t prevent car accidents from happening either. Yet they save thousands of lives every year.
No one died in that attack 10 years ago. The attacker does not have that on his conscience. Why should I care about the conscience of the attacker? Because he is an image-bearer of God just like his victims are, and I grieve for both.
Let me just say, that I personally think that hunting, while I do not partake, is fine (like it needs my permission). And I must admit that having gone target shooting at a controlled range when I was younger, I had fun. But we must be honest with ourselves that guns were made and continue to be crafted and “perfected” for one purpose only: to kill more efficiently and effectively. Whether you’re talking about hunting, war, or target shooting, guns are the tool you use when you want to do that most effectively. That is what guns are for, it is their purpose. And right now, there are more guns than people in our country. So access is easier than ever.
With access so easy now, any sad season of life, any job-loss, any tragic episode of bullying that could have been worked through with counseling and therapy, has the potential to turn into a life-taking event.
I recognize that guns are enshrined in our constitution as a right. But that term “enshrined” seems to have become much too apt. It’s as if we put them in shrines, we put them on this pedestal that represents what it means to be a “free country”. But is the freedom to possess firearms worth the associated tradeoffs?
According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, when compared to countries that are similarly situated to the United States economically and politically, the numbers of mass shootings are not even comparable. The United States experienced 109 mass shootings between 2000-2022. The country with the next most? France, with six.
How is it possible that other “civilized” and modern cultures can live in democratic “freedom” and yet not have such a culture of gun violence?
And I understand that most people who have guns want them for protection. But two things about that: 1) Those same guns that are possessed for defense are often the same ones that are being found and used by people for attack. And 2) We wouldn’t “need” as many guns for defense if there were fewer guns around in the first place.
Now, before you say anything, yes, “bad-guys” would manage to find their way to destructive weapons. They always have throughout history. But “good-guys” with guns turn into “bad-guys” with guns so quickly when they perceive that they are at risk (real or not) or when they have had too much to drink or when the gun accidently goes off in the home. And the category of “good guys” and “bad guys” misunderstands the nature of humanity anyway, at least from a Christian perspective. We are all fallen, we are all broken, and we all have the potential of “bad guy” within us. Besides, the number of times “good guys” with guns have stopped “bad guys” with guns is so miniscule as to be almost negligible. Yes it happens, but it is so rare that it compels me to ask how persuasive that argument should be.
Look, I’m not saying that we need to get rid of all guns (though I pray for that someday). I’m just saying that we seem to want to protect our right to own guns more than we want to give up that right (or at least some of it) to protect our kids (and thousands of adults too!)
Time for me to own up here: Is some of this post coming from emotion? Yes, it is. In fact, it had better be! When 12 children die and 32 are injured from gun violence every day in our country, there is a massive problem that we should get emotional over and care deeply about. I hope that we never stop getting emotional over gun violence.
I’m not here to set out policy prescription. But as a Christian, how seriously do I take my call to peace? How seriously do I take Jesus in Matthew 5:9 when he says 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Or how seriously do I take Paul when he says in Romans 12:17-21: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And how seriously do I take Peter who said in 1 Peter 3:10-11: For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.
And how seriously do I take Jesus when he instructed his own follower in Matthew 26:52: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Is our response to these tragedies to shake our heads and say “That’s so, so sad. Too bad there’s nothing we can do about it if we’re to remain a free society. But I will surely pray for the families.”? Or is it to think deeply about our responsibility to our children and families? What are you willing to give up? What are you willing to sacrifice to ensure the right and freedom to LIVE? How far are you willing to go to ensure that no more second graders must dial 911 to report that their school is under attack?