Can a God fearing Catholic own guns?

[PrayerShark]

Never owned a gun but slept with knives and at one time a longer bladed weapon with every intention of using it if need be. Gotta defend yourself when you’re attacked.

Is there any context to why you’re doing this, or you just do it in general?

 

[pensmama87]

Is there any context to why you’re doing this, or you just do it in general?

My husband keeps a bat at hand for the same purpose to use at night. We lock the doors and live in a safe neighborhood, and he doesn’t feel unsafe. He just wants to be prepared in case those protective measures fail.

It’s like any other precaution a person would take to protect his or her person or property.

 

[Tigg]

The liberal-minded among us will argue with this but really, the whole issue of guns, in this country at least, is about suppressing the people and advocating for the dominance of the State. Guns represent a powerful symbolism to a free people who once had to fight for their liberty, and of course, liberals, always siding with big government, would love to take that away because they do not believe law-abiding citizens should be given choices about life and death situations. Law enforcement and the government fails as we have seen time and time again so why are they so insistent in making us truly vulnerable to evil, even though the Church upholds our right to self defense and further says that in some cases it is even a duty.

 

[Sarcelle]

For every “ex girlfriend saved by a gun” anecdote, there is a “20 gunned dead elementary school children” anecdote. That’s the question being posed to the gun culture. We have guns to defend ourselves meaning a gun rich society, meaning more guns for criminals and their aptitude for destruction, meaning more guns needed for ‘good’ people to defend themselves, meaning more guns in society for the criminals to access ad infinitum.

It is naive to think that the more guns that are legally accessible to the law abiding citizen, the more guns available to the criminal. There will always be guns available to the criminal no matter how easy or difficult guns are for the average law abiding citizen to obtain. The only difference is there will be more sitting ducks for the criminal to kill when the honest citizen has little access to legally obtained firearms.

 

[LongingSoul]

It is naive to think that the more guns that are legally accessible to the law abiding citizen, the more guns available to the criminal. There will always be guns available to the criminal no matter how easy or difficult guns are for the average law abiding citizen to obtain. The only difference is there will be more sitting ducks for the criminal to kill when the honest citizen has little access to legally obtained firearms.

The American Journal of Medicine commissioned a study a bit over a year ago in relations to the increasing number of firearm deaths and injuries in the US. It concluded…

The number of guns per capita per country was a strong and independent predictor of firearm-related death in a given country, whereas the predictive power of the mental illness burden was of borderline significance in a multivariable model. Regardless of exact cause and effect, however, the current study debunks the widely quoted hypothesis that guns make a nation safer.

amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(13)00444-0/fulltext

The experience of countries with strict gun controls also shows the correlation between fewer guns and a safer society.

 

[styrgwillidar]

The experience of countries with strict gun controls also shows the correlation between fewer guns and a safer society.

No it doesn’t. As has been show repeatedly, there isn’t a correlation between less guns and a safer society. You and I can both find examples of countries with strict gun laws and high rates of violence, easy availability of firearms and low levels of violence, easy availability of firearms and high rates of violence- we can go around the world and find examples to suit a theory.

The real driver is the willingness of a person or persons to commit acts of violence. The prohibition of the law abiding to have the effective means to defend themselves just makes them vulnerable to those willing to act in an evil manner. The disarmament of the Jews, or the Russian officers during the revolution, or the Russian peasants under Stalin, or the Chinese peasants under Mao just made them more vulnerable to those who wished to do harm. Unless of course one believes that government killing of its own people doesn’t factor in to the definition of a safer society.

Or perhaps I misunderstand- are you stating that by fewer guns you also mean disarmament of the government?

 

[Tigg]

No it doesn’t. As has been show repeatedly, there isn’t a correlation between less guns and a safer society. You and I can both find examples of countries with strict gun laws and high rates of violence, easy availability of firearms and low levels of violence, easy availability of firearms and high rates of violence- we can go around the world and find examples to suit a theory.

The real driver is the willingness of a person or persons to commit acts of violence. The prohibition of the law abiding to have the effective means to defend themselves just makes them vulnerable to those willing to act in an evil manner. The disarmament of the Jews, or the Russian officers during the revolution, or the Russian peasants under Stalin, or the Chinese peasants under Mao just made them more vulnerable to those who wished to do harm. Unless of course one believes that government killing of its own people doesn’t factor in to the definition of a safer society.

Or perhaps I misunderstand- are you stating that by fewer guns you also mean disarmament of the government?

 

[Mike_Dye]

Because of the number of previous posts I am not sure if this has been mentioned before.
My thinking may seem archaic to some but I believe that as the head of my household, not only do I have a right, but I also have a moral responsibility to protect my wife and my family from all harm. If that means using a gun, so be it. Remember the old saying," When seconds count the police are only minutes away".

 

[Inisfallen]

Think If someone attacked your family you are responsible for them. If you are a man with a family you must own some.

Oh, please. *“Must” *own some? So am I not living up to my responsibilities as a husband and father because I don’t own any guns (not even one)?

 

[Inisfallen]

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?

Fair point. I’ve gotten my share of the bounty from hunting, although I’m not a hunter myself. I’ve enjoyed the moose and venison relatives and friends have given me.

Seems to me when getting into a debate about gun regulation, we should be careful to distinguish between hunting weapons like shotguns and rifles, and handguns, which, I think, are what people mean when they talk about regulating gun ownership. Of course, there are some gray areas (there always are), like, for example, the debate over ownership of assault weapons (and the debate about what exactly “assault weapon” means).

Nobody is all that concerned about hunting weapons, except maybe the animal rights people, and that’s a whole other debate.

 

[styrgwillidar]

Oh, please. *“Must” *own some? So am I not living up to my responsibilities as a husband and father because I don’t own any guns (not even one)?

Well I’d never say you must own one. It’s a risk decision like many things-- odds/consequences and cost benefit. Might be a very bad idea actually depending on the other people in your household.

Before I’d own a gun I would invest in a lot of other things that fall under taking care of/protecting the family. Of course, I have the luxury of living in a good neighborhood with very little crime, I avoid stupid people doing stupid things in stupid places/times, and I don’t appear to be an easy target- large, healthy, and not mesmerized by a cell phone as I’m transiting public areas- I notice the folks around me.

Other things should come before guns- life insurance, a good medical kit for household accidents, jumper cables for the car, a good fire extinguisher, if you’re in a multi-story dwelling a good portable/rope type escape ladder if there’s only one route out etc. etc. etc I mention life insurance because folks tend to forget about it-- two families near me were each devastated when the breadwinners were killed in separate traffic accidents and there was no insurance. Had to sell homes, move to new neighborhoods- kids leaving behind their friends on top of losing a parent.

Guns a last ditch thing so getting some other things in place to dissuade burglaries/home invasions like lighting, alarms, a dog of any size that barks at strangers.