Catholic view on gun ownership

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vin_dedvukaj

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I cant get a clear answer on this. I own a gun I believe they are essential for self defense of your family. Whats the catholic view on this.
 
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sorry posted this in the wrong place !! I am new here! sorry again !
 
By the time this thread gets to a hundred replies, you probably still won’t have a clear answer, so good luck with that.
 
There is no “Catholic” position. However, if you go to sections 2265-2270 in the catechism, you see that a individual has the God-given right - even a duty - to defend self and others.

Don’t want to own a gun? Don’t like guns?

Simple: Don’t buy one!
 
The self-defence aspect is dubious. You do of course have the right to self-defence but it has to be proportional to the threat faced. Obviously shooting someone who’s broken into your house in the middle of the night is proportional; shooting someone who’s stealing you washing, less so. The same is also true of the type of gun - an AR-15 seems a tad excessive imho
 
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One thing I’ll note - it seems to be a distinctly American concept that normal civilians go around with guns in their pockets. Where I’m from, most police officers don’t even have guns—which is a good thing in my opinion (although there are cases when it is necessary).
 
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InThePew said:
an AR-15 seems a tad excessive imho
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I’m not American and don’t own an AR-15, but I believe the argument for owning something like that is usually to prepare for societal collapse or a civil war or anything like that just in case it happens.
And if it’s legal and you’re not planning to do anything evil with it, what’s the harm?
 
Theban said:
And if it’s legal and you’re not planning to do anything evil with it, what’s the harm?
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Not saying there’s any - some who own guns just like guns and that’s fine as long as it’s lawful and responsible.
po18guy said:
Did you read the catechism sections?

It is not dubious. it is clear and to the point
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The catechism is clear - 2264 is particularly on point - but “self-defence” itself is a nebulous concept hence the use of the word “legitimate” in the Catechism.
 
This is more of a legal thing than a religious thing I’d think.
I’m personally against guns, but there’s plenty of good reasons to disagree with that position.
 
Definitely. I know people who own guns - mostly because they’re farmers or hunt and I’ve met people who just like guns but the “cold dead hand” notion of gun ownership seems to me at least to be a uniquely American thing.
 
The majority of Christian democracies don’t allow guns for ‘self defense’. They serve a purpose for farming, hunting, sport, military, policing and official security purposes by people trained in efficient and prudent use of such a weapon.

Other than that they are deemed inappropriate as self defense weapons to the untrained and non official ‘defenders’. They cause more harm than good in the hands of people motivated by crime and revenge.

Reference Summa Theologica (St Thomas Aquinas) II II Q64 Art7

…it is not lawful for a man to intend killing a man in self-defense, except for such as have public authority, who while intending to kill a man in self-defense, refer this to the public good.
 
The USA is mostly unique in that it was born and bred in rebellion against authority. It is in the very DNA of the US. We hear much of the “Church Fathers” but the “Founding Fathers” of the US experienced tyranny first hand and wanted nothing of it. They well knew that an armed citizenry was the first line of defense against despotic tyrants and government abuse.

The social and cultural crime problems which the US suffers from are just that: evil as manifested in criminal violence and in criminal sub-cultures. Those unique problems cannot be successfully dealt with by oppressing those who do not commit crime and are not members of those sub-cultures.

As it is with cancer or Corona, the cure needs to be directed at the disease - not simply the symptoms of that disease.
 
po18guy said:
The USA is mostly unique in that it was born and bred in rebellion against authority. It is in the very DNA of the US. We hear much of the “Church Fathers” but the “Founding Fathers” of the US experienced tyranny first hand and wanted nothing of it. They well knew that an armed citizenry was the first line of defense against despotic tyrants and government abuse.
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I’ve never really understood why you don’t trust a government that you elect - especially when you elect (directly or indirectly) just about every position imaginable…
 
Because there are always those in power for some that they did not elect, and that they do not trust.
 
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There’s nothing inherently sinful about owning a gun, assuming you own it legally.
The gun itself is not a sinful item, it’s a tool, like owning a hammer, a hydraulic press, or a large knife.

Of course it’s possible to commit sins with a gun, as with any other tool, including a hammer, a hydraulic press, or a knife. Also possible to use all those things for good or benign purposes. The sin does not lie in legally owning an item, but rather in what you do with it.

There is nothing unclear about this. Guns aren’t some special area of Catholic catechesis, and many Catholics have been owning them for hundreds of years.
 
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Irishmom2 said:
Because there are always those in power for some that they did not elect, and that they do not trust.
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^^This. Elections help make things fair. They do not absolutely guarantee that corruption or something bad won’t happen.

And in addition to the Founding Fathers, we’ve had wave after wave of later immigrants fleeing tyranny or oppression in their home countries flock to this country, just adding to the pile of individualism and healthy (to me) distrust of the government.
 
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