Can a God fearing Catholic own guns?

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I agree. Why not use less lethal forms of self defense, such as a taser? I understand that we have the responsibility to defend ourselves and our children, but don’t we also have the obligation to on,y use deadly force when there are absolutely no other options?
Have fun defending your family from armed intruders with a tazer :rolleyes:
 
I think what White Sheep is getting at is that “Axe” (IIRC) in Backdraft used a very creative, non-gun method of creating some big violence.

And I would agree with this line of thinking too, although in debate it tends to miss the mark. No pun intended.

Same point - for those posters in this thread who have demonstrated a bit of fear, particularly around being one bad decision or one accident away about death - that’s true of so many things. 🤷

I truly believe in my heart I could cause more damage / destruction / mayhem with my one-ton diesel pickup truck (no background check required!) in a more efficient way than I ever could with a pistol or rifle. Fertilizer and diesel fuel are still readily available. This is often not acknowledged because “everyone has a car / everyone needs a car” etc and the “risk / benefit” is much different for a car. Fair enough, but please acknowledge that living life itself is a huge risk and you are at the mercy of your fellow man acting responsibly in many cases.

If you have any sort of fear that you cannot trust yourself with a firearm, please do not purchase one.
Well, I haven’t read any news stories lately wherein a malevolent misfit drives a pickup into a schoolyard and callously runs down dozens of innocent students and teachers before throwing himself under the wheels in a suicidal finale.

A pickup is a very inefficient weapon for a person of mass-murderous intent. For that matter, so is a knife. All other weapons that I am aware of that ARE efficient for such a purpose - hand grenades, nukes, poison gas and the like - are illegal for common or garden citizens to own. Why the love affair with the gun to the point where your “right to bear arms” extends, seemingly, only as far as that particular species of weapon?
 
Well, I haven’t read any news stories lately wherein a malevolent misfit drives a pickup into a schoolyard and callously runs down dozens of innocent students and teachers before throwing himself under the wheels in a suicidal finale.

A pickup is a very inefficient weapon for a person of mass-murderous intent. For that matter, so is a knife. All other weapons that I am aware of that ARE efficient for such a purpose - hand grenades, nukes, poison gas and the like - are illegal for common or garden citizens to own. Why the love affair with the gun to the point where your “right to bear arms” extends, seemingly, only as far as that particular species of weapon?
You know Al Qaida did not have ICBMs? Yet they found a way to turn a tool to move people from place to place into one of the most powerful weapons ever used on mankind. Not only did they kill the people on board, but they used a vehicle to bring down the tallest buildings on earth. Before that, I would have guessed than an airplane would have been in inefficient weapon to attack the most populous city of a country and do more damage than has ever been done by two missiles ever to hit this country…
 
Reading the responses on here, I have yet to see an intelligent reason to own a gun. The American right to own and carry a firearm breeds a sinister corruption of what is lawful or just, and seems to be protected by a strange sense of entitlement rather than any logic or reason. In the end you’re answering violence with violence; evil for evil.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword
 
Reading the responses on here, I have yet to see an intelligent reason to own a gun. The American right to own and carry a firearm breeds a sinister corruption of what is lawful or just, and seems to be protected by a strange sense of entitlement rather than any logic or reason. In the end you’re answering violence with violence; evil for evil.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword
Why is it the Pope Francis surrounds himself with gun wielding men ( the Swiss Guards). Even the guards in ceremonial dress carry Sig Sauer pistols. And we don’t see the snipers and quick response teams (who carry SIG 550 assault rifles)

Do you believe that Pope Francis is answering evil with evil, violence with violence, by keeping the Swiss Guards around?
 
You’re assuming he has a choice in the matter, and to answer you directly:
Do you believe that Pope Francis is answering evil with evil, violence with violence, by keeping the Swiss Guards around?
Yes.
 
Reading the responses on here, I have yet to see an intelligent reason to own a gun. The American right to own and carry a firearm breeds a sinister corruption of what is lawful or just, and seems to be protected by a strange sense of entitlement rather than any logic or reason. In the end you’re answering violence with violence; evil for evil.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword
You do know that according to stats, more people are killed with hammers and fists than guns each year. So evil intent is not confined to a specific weapon - guns. When it comes to the* preservation of ones life,* common sense might say a gun more trustworthy (and certainly more merciful) than bludgeoning someone to death.
 
Your counter argument is ridiculous. Of course you could kill someone with any other implement, but the sole purpose of a gun is to kill. The idea that guns, or any other progression of violence, equates with the preservation of life is therefore contradictory.
 
You do know that according to stats, more people are killed with hammers and fists than guns each year.
If you’re going to refer to stats, then you need to back it up with a credible reference.
 
Your counter argument is ridiculous. Of course you could kill someone with any other implement, but the sole purpose of a gun is to kill. The idea that guns, or any other progression of violence, equates with the preservation of life is therefore contradictory.
No it is not. There are all kinds of reasons to own guns that have nothing to do with violence.

Even so, the defense of innocent life sometimes requires violence, regrettable though it may be. That’s why the Pope has armed guards.
 
Your counter argument is ridiculous. Of course you could kill someone with any other implement, but the sole purpose of a gun is to kill. The idea that guns, or any other progression of violence, equates with the preservation of life is therefore contradictory.
No - I am a gun owner and my only purpose to use it would be out of necessity to save my life or another’s. The intent would not be to kill, but to terminate a mortal threat against life. The Catholic Church upholds this.
 
Your counter argument is ridiculous. Of course you could kill someone with any other implement, but the sole purpose of a gun is to kill. The idea that guns, or any other progression of violence, equates with the preservation of life is therefore contradictory.
The fact is, guns help to reduce murder. Why? Because criminals don’t want to mess with a man with a gun vs. without one. You can’t deny that.

I will take self defense classes, own guns, etc. someday so that I can protect my family.

/thread.
 
. The idea that guns, or any other progression of violence, equates with the preservation of life is therefore contradictory.
The statistics prove you wrong.

A US FBI study showed that 93% of the defensive uses of firearms did not actually involve the gun being fired.

Either the display of the gun caused the criminal to flee, or the gun was used to hold the criminal at bay until police arrived.

The attacks were stopped and , in the VAST majority of cases, no person was harmed. Can you explain how that results in an evil being done?
 
Reading the responses on here, I have yet to see an intelligent reason to own a gun. The American right to own and carry a firearm breeds a sinister corruption of what is lawful or just, and seems to be protected by a strange sense of entitlement rather than any logic or reason. In the end you’re answering violence with violence; evil for evil.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword
Rediculous. Some of us feed our familys with our guns. Living in a rural part of america my freezer is full of the fruits of mine and my familys labor with our guns. you want to donate us the meat to make up for what we hunt?
 
Yes. Some people hunt for food. Some use them for self defense in emergency situations. Those are two valid reasons to own one. Now if you have children you need to get locks and a good gun safe.
 
Yes. Some people hunt for food. Some use them for self defense in emergency situations. Those are two valid reasons to own one. Now if you have children you need to get locks and a good gun safe.
As well as, based on their age and abilities, teach them gun safety and how to operate them.
 
The statistics prove you wrong.

A US FBI study showed that 93% of the defensive uses of firearms did not actually involve the gun being fired.

Either the display of the gun caused the criminal to flee, or the gun was used to hold the criminal at bay until police arrived.

The attacks were stopped and , in the VAST majority of cases, no person was harmed. Can you explain how that results in an evil being done?
I very much doubt even the FBI could get that sort of information. The more significant statistic would be how many gun injuries and deaths were acts of self defense. The figures show murders, accidents and suicides but very few are acts of self defense.
 
I very much doubt even the FBI could get that sort of information. .
Sure they can. It is called police reports.

And there have been quite a number of independent studies, that list between 3 million defensive (Florida State University - Kleck) uses down to about 85,000 (Violence Policy Institute)

The two high ends each have issues with they way the count what constitutes a ‘use’

But the most common number offered is about 1 million defensive uses of firearms each year in the US.

scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6938&context=jclc
 
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