Does the Catholic Church have a position on gun control?

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Advocating for Gun Control
Advocating for gun control is not something new for the Church. The Holy See has continuously been a strong voice in opposition to international arms trading, the world’s version of gun control; it’s even in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official teaching of the Catholic faith (see numbers 2315-2316 in particular) . Here in the United States, the bishops have for decades supported measures to get handguns off the streets, and to ban assault weapons. To cite but one instance, in Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration, released in 2000, the bishops reiterated their support for legislative efforts that seek to protect society from the violence associated with easy access to deadly weapons. “As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children and anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns.”
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-Cardinal Dolan

For what it’s worth…
 
Prodigal_Son1 said:
Advocating for Gun Control

-Cardinal Dolan

For what it’s worth…
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There already is gun control. The real question is are the current gun control laws in sufficient? And will a new gun control law significantly reduce gun violence. Since the current uproar on gun control is based off of the actions of an insane criminal, and criminals by definition are people who go against laws, I don’t believe that another gun control law will stop another act of terror from happening. This has already been proven recently with the Boston bombing. What kind of ban could have prevented that? I think adding another gun control law will do more to keep the honest people honest while criminals will be the only ones with the guns. Most gun violence is gang violence.
 
livingwordunity said:
There already is gun control. The real question is are the current gun control laws in sufficient? And will a new gun control law significantly reduce gun violence. Since the current uproar on gun control is based off of the actions of an insane criminal, and criminals by definition are people who go against laws, I don’t believe that another gun control law will stop another act of terror from happening. This has already been proven recently with the Boston bombing. What kind of ban could have prevented that? I think adding another gun control law will do more to keep the honest people honest while criminals will be the only ones with the guns. Most gun violence is gang violence.
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I wasn’t trying to make a point, but providing the OP statements from Cardinal Dolan referencing gun control and the Catholic Church. To say, there already are gun controls, places the Cardinal in an awkward position though. That quote, I provided, came from his blog, after December 14, 2012. Surely he is not calling for existing gun controls.

What anyone believes is moot, as it does not address the OP’s question. The Popes, and the USCCB, have called for gun controls, and support of gun controls. Cardinal Dolan referenced the Catechism, the same section the OP referenced. They are the authoritative voice of the Church, and I don’t believe you’ll find any of the men of the Church that will argue against gun control, as you seem to.
 
po18guy said:
Like Major Hassan at Fort Hood? He had easy access to an assault weapon - the gov’t gave it to him.

Why is it so easy for a gun to find a criminal? I truly wonder about that… 🤷
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I’m not going to argue points, especially one that is a minority in the number of mass shooting incidents; where the majority are civilian shooters. When you have 250,000,000 guns in a country of 315,000,000 people, access doesn’t seem to be that hard.
 
LongingSoul said:
I’m not addressing the sporting shooters at all, or the farmers or military… Just the ordinary people that obtain a gun for the specific purpose of urban ‘self defence’ that’s based on chronic mistrust and pessimism. Even in Australia where we have strict gun controls, we have a thriving sporting shooters culture (that thrashed the world at the Olympics.) There is a stark distinction in the two purposes.
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Moreover, “legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another’s life, the common good of the family or of the State”. Unfortunately it happens that the need to render the aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes involves taking his life. In this case, the fatal outcome is attributable to the aggressor whose action brought it about, even though he may not be morally responsible because of a lack of the use of reason.
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Pope John Paul II - Evangelicum Vitae
 
LongingSoul said:
I’m not addressing the sporting shooters at all, or the farmers or military… Just the ordinary people that obtain a gun for the specific purpose of urban ‘self defence’ that’s based on chronic mistrust and pessimism. Even in Australia where we have strict gun controls, we have a thriving sporting shooters culture (that thrashed the world at the Olympics.) There is a stark distinction in the two purposes.
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LongingSoul. Would you be willing to put a sign in your yard that states that your home is a gun free zone?

Annie
 
Annie39 said:
LongingSoul. Would you be willing to put a sign in your yard that states that your home is a gun free zone?

Annie
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That’s as silly as asking someone if they would place a sign around their neck stating they were carrying thousands of dollars, in cash, on their person, and doesn’t address the topic of whether the Church has a position on gun control. :rolleyes:
 
Holly3278 said:
But the Catholic Church does, in fact, take a position on certain laws such as laws on pornography. It specifically states in the Catechism that authorities should do what they can to eliminate pornography.
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True but pornography is a moral issue.
 
Prodigal_Son1 said:
That’s as silly as asking someone if they would place a sign around their neck stating they were carrying thousands of dollars, in cash, on their person, and doesn’t address the topic of whether the Church has a position on gun control. :rolleyes:
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LongingSoul was not exactly on topic either. he was giving an opinion on weather or not we should have a means of self defence. The people who want the average citizen to be unarmed are the ones who want us all to lose if our home is invaded.
 
Annie39 said:
LongingSoul. Would you be willing to put a sign in your yard that states that your home is a gun free zone?

Annie
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What purpose would that serve? I live in urban Australia. No one in my whole street, neighbourhood or beyond owns a gun. Just the police.
 
Annie39 said:
LongingSoul was not exactly on topic either. he was giving an opinion on weather or not we should have a means of self defence. The people who want the average citizen to be unarmed are the ones who want us all to lose if our home is invaded.
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We went to very strict gun controls about 15 years ago. Some people did think that lawlessness and anarchy would follow such a move… but it didn’t.
 
LongingSoul said:
We went to very strict gun controls about 15 years ago. Some people did think that lawlessness and anarchy would follow such a move… but it didn’t.
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This intrigues me. Was there more crime where you live 15 years ago. May Inknow the name of your urban area. I wouldnlike to research this.
 
Annie39 said:
This intrigues me. Was there more crime where you live 15 years ago. May Inknow the name of your urban area. I wouldnlike to research this.
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I live in Brisbane. The gun controls came about after the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in the late 90’s as that massacre was ultimately the product of lax gun controls. Best thing Australia ever did.
 
You know, I honestly thought that what the Catechism states there is about gun control to civilians. I think it can also be used in reference to the international arms trade.
 
LongingSoul said:
Here are some recent statistics.

guncontrol.org.au/
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Before going to the url that you posted I decided to look up the crime stats. in Brisbane. I could find nothing simple. I found a lengthy article by someone who apparently is not a fan of your gun ban. He attempted to show the reason that the statistics in general show a drop in gun crime rate is that the stats have been manipulated. (That is my capsulated version of what he said). I have no way of knowing who is right and who is wrong and a famous author of the 19th century, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) popularized the quote there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics”. For my purposes, it is terrific that you are actually a citizen of that very city. My questions to you are: Is there no violent crime or suicides in Brisbane? If there is what weapon other than his bare hands does the criminal use? Are there any robberies? If there are, once again what is the usual weapon of choice? Are there any crime ridden neighborhoods near you? If there is what kind of crime and do you feel safe walking the streets in that neighborhood? I live in Southern California USA. There are areas where it would be foolish for me to stroll the streets at any time let alone at night but in my neighborhood one can stroll the streets at any time in safety. That isn’t to say that there is never crime but it is very low. Recently there was a rash of car break ins it seems to have died down however.

Annie
 
Annie39 said:
Before going to the url that you posted I decided to look up the crime stats. in Brisbane. I could find nothing simple. I found a lengthy article by someone who apparently is not a fan of your gun ban. He attempted to show the reason that the statistics in general show a drop in gun crime rate is that the stats have been manipulated. (That is my capsulated version of what he said). I have no way of knowing who is right and who is wrong and a famous author of the 19th century, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) popularized the quote there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics”.
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I can give you official government and police links if you want to do an indepth study but the nuances in recording statistics can be confusing. In this first link from the Government statistics the percentage of knife crime went up since gun controls began in 1997 however the second link from the Queensland Police Statistics shows that overall murder rates in Queensland since that time have gone from around 2.2 people per 100,000 to 1.3 per 100,000. This tends to indicate that knives while being the second most popular preference weren’t nearly as effective in achieving death as guns are.

aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide/weapon.html

police.qld.gov.au/Resources/Internet/services/reportsPublications/statisticalReview/0809/documents/05_Annual%20Crime%20Trends.pdf
(scroll down to annual crime trends - Murder)
For my purposes, it is terrific that you are actually a citizen of that very city. My questions to you are: Is there no violent crime or suicides in Brisbane?
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Is there such a place on earth?

I think the real issue to address even before wasting time scouring statistics, is what are the basic beliefs and principles that support gun ownership for urban safety. Are people safer with a gun under their bed or is this a false sense of security? A vicious cycle. Like Nigerian scammers offer people money to surreptitiously get access to your funds to steal from you and you end up feeling more dependent and grateful to them for being there to save you. Or people who use marijuana to cause sleep, not realising that the effect of marijuana the next day is restlessness and sleep issues leading one to think they really need this great drug to help them out every night. A thing can trap one into a vicious cycle if you don’t consider what’s happening in the big picture. To think a gun will keep me safe … is that really inviting paranoia and other dangers into your home that undermine a natural sense of peace and security? It’s only then that others experience can really help us appreciate the big picture of a thing and break its cycle.

This was an open letter written somewhat recently by John Howard who was Prime Minister of Australia initiating the strict gun laws, the amnesty and buy back.

smh.com.au/opinion/politics/brothers-in-arms-yes-but-the-us-needs-to-get-rid-of-its-guns-20120731-23ct7.html
 
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