I just read the sad news that 12 people were killed, and another 11 injured, after their pickup truck crashed into trees in a rural South Texas community. This comes just a few days after the mass murder of 12 in Aurora, Colorado. In both cases people died as the result of an inanimate object being used in the wrong way. The shooting has prompted many to call for stricter gun control laws, or the banning of guns. I can’t help but wonder—will those folks also call for a ban on pickup trucks?
IMHO it is foolish to blame evil acts on inanimate objects, rather than the free moral agents who used them. There is no such thing as “gun violence”. Saying guns kill people is like blaming pencils for misspelled words. Why is it that after a shooting spree they want to take guns away from the people who didn’t do it. In my mind, the very fact that there are people who will misuse guns is all the more reason for us to “keep and bear arms”. Why should the wrongs of others result in us losing the means of protecting ourselves.
I am offended by the fact that the same people who support the butchering of babies through abortion are usually the first ones to call for a ban on guns.If they are so concern about protecting lives why don’t they protest the killing of innocent babies? Any government that promotes the murder of millions through abortion and then strips people of their right to keep and bear arms is a government that cannot be trusted. Thomas Jefferson said it well, “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government”.
Shortly before his death, Colonel Jeff Cooper wrote,”One cannot legislate the maniacs off the street—these maniacs can only be shut down by an armed citizenry. Indeed bad things can happen in nations where the citizenry is armed, but not as bad as those which seem to be threatening our disarmed citizenry in this country at this time.” That is a voice of reason that deserves our attention at this time. The problem is not with trucks and guns, but with the person who has his hands on the steering wheel or his finger on the trigger. We have more than enough laws, but not nearly enough love for God and others. We need to deal with the root of the problem rather than the fruit of the problem.
