Is it ok for a Christian to own and carry a gun for protection

[mebcb]

I have a gun. I am “older” and health wise can not fight my way out of a paper bag. I live in a semi-bad area. I see young men eyeing my house all the time as they pass by. They live in the government housing around the corner. They beat an old man in his own backyard two house up and filmed it. It took the police over an hour to arrive even though they were called twice. Yes, I have a gun and know how to use it. It is my God-given right to protect myself…

 

[WildCatholic]

If a Catholic wants to own a gun then they sure can. That being said, I think that we need to be careful owning one for protection. First of all, if you draw your pistol in the middle of the night because you hear a strange noise, you might accidentally shoot a family member or something on accident.
Secondly, in shootout situations it is not like call of duty. Intruders are not going to wear uniforms or look a certain way. I know that at times police officers can’t come right away, but at the same time its not as simple as “shoot the bad guy”. You might miss or hit someone on accident (and yes cops can too).

Lastly there is the issue of self defense. Yes it is right to defend yourself if your life is in danger. For me though, there might be the issue of shooting first and asking questions later. Is it still self defense if you shoot an unarmed home invader who just wanted to steal your big screen? I wouldn’t think so.

That being said just be responsible not to use a gun for the wrong means. For those that are more questionable God will be your judge

God Bless

WildCatholic

 

[MarianCatholic]

I think that we need to be careful owning one for protection. First of all, if you draw your pistol in the middle of the night because you hear a strange noise, you might accidentally shoot a family member or something on accident.

Lastly there is the issue of self defense. Yes it is right to defend yourself if your life is in danger. For me though, there might be the issue of shooting first and asking questions later. Is it still self defense if you shoot an unarmed home invader who just wanted to steal your big screen? I wouldn’t think so.

WildCatholic

A vice post WildCatholic and what you’ve stated above is parts of the reason why Im against weapons bought in for the purpose of self Defense.

 

[Emily2014]

I feel sorry for you that you are so deeply filled with rage and hatred that you would be unable to prevent yourself from murdering those around you were you to own a firearm.

Please understand that most people are not similarly afflicted, and we will pray for you that you are able to find the peace you require.

Marian does NOT deserve a response like that.:tsktsk:

 

[mebcb]

Owning and operating an automobile is analogous to having a deadly weapon. More people have died and been killed in car accidents than have died in our military actions in the last 50-years or so. They have also been used in homicide and crimes. Would you wish to see automobiles banned as well? Yes, you can look that up, too.

 

[Iheartcoffee]

Many Europeans that think Americans are gun-happy forget that in many parts of America, even in the 21st century, Americans deal with some very dangerous threats from animals. The American south, arguably the most pro-gun area of America, also has a wide range of panthers, gators, bears, and worst of all, wild hogs. These kinds of threats don’t exist in the same way in Europe that they do in America. These animals have no problem coming after people if hungry or surprised by your presence. (And in the case of wild hogs, whenever they please regardless of hunger because they are several hundred pounds of roving destruction.) poisonous snakes can be a sudden and unexpected threat and they move faster than anyone with a knife. In the American South, rabies can also be a significant threat even in populated areas, making many wild and domestic mammals quite dangerous unless you know the animal well personally.

Even with all human threats aside, there are many families in America that owe their lives to the quick ability to take down a dangerous animal. A common phrase you hear in the American south is, “When seconds count, the police are minutes away.” The police aren’t constantly lurking around playing nanny because America is a big place. Plus, the overall culture prizes being prepared for your own problems rather than being dependent on others. If you’re outside and wild pigs come near, you’re not going to be alive long enough to call for help. A can of mace means nothing to them, so you have to be legally able to maintain your own ability to use quick deadly force.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Don’t like guns?

Then don’t GET ONE!



Just don’t tell anyone else they can’t. :yup:

 

[SuperLuigi]

I think that we need to be careful owning one for protection. First of all, if you draw your pistol in the middle of the night because you hear a strange noise, you might accidentally shoot a family member or something on accident.

Just how many people do you think sleep with a loaded gun with the safety off under their pillow?

Folks, owning a gun in the states isn’t quite like how the Hollywood left portrays it on TV.

 

[OraLabora]

Many Europeans that think Americans are gun-happy forget that in many parts of America, even in the 21st century, Americans deal with some very dangerous threats from animals. The American south, arguably the most pro-gun area of America, also has a wide range of panthers, gators, bears, and worst of all, wild hogs. These kinds of threats don’t exist in the same way in Europe that they do in America. These animals have no problem coming after people if hungry or surprised by your presence. (And in the case of wild hogs, whenever they please regardless of hunger because they are several hundred pounds of roving destruction.) poisonous snakes can be a sudden and unexpected threat and they move faster than anyone with a knife. In the American South, rabies can also be a significant threat even in populated areas, making many wild and domestic mammals quite dangerous unless you know the animal well personally.

Even with all human threats aside, there are many families in America that owe their lives to the quick ability to take down a dangerous animal. A common phrase you hear in the American south is, “When seconds count, the police are minutes away.” The police aren’t constantly lurking around playing nanny because America is a big place. Plus, the overall culture prizes being prepared for your own problems rather than being dependent on others. If you’re outside and wild pigs come near, you’re not going to be alive long enough to call for help. A can of mace means nothing to them, so you have to be legally able to maintain your own ability to use quick deadly force.

Many similar threats in rural Canada. My son works on a forestry crew in grizzly country in Western Canada. Needless to say they are armed.

Farmers also need to protect their farms from vermin, coyotes, etc.

But handguns are largely illegal in Canada except in very limited and specific circumstances. I can’t quite comprehend the US gun culture.

True story, I had an eccentric colleague (May he rest in peace, now deceased) who was also a hobby farmer. One night he heard a strange noise in his basement. He looked down the stairs and saw a shadowy figure. He proceeded to shoot his furnace. Repeatedly

I don’t understand either that to operate a motor vehicle, we need to be licensed and register the vehicle whereas the gun lobby is against that for lethal weapons.

 

[SuperLuigi]

I have a gun. I am “older” and health wise can not fight my way out of a paper bag. I live in a semi-bad area. I see young men eyeing my house all the time as they pass by. They live in the government housing around the corner. They beat an old man in his own backyard two house up and filmed it. It took the police over an hour to arrive even though they were called twice. Yes, I have a gun and know how to use it. It is my God-given right to protect myself…

 

[SuperLuigi]

I don’t understand either that to operate a motor vehicle, we need to be licensed and register the vehicle whereas the gun lobby is against that for lethal weapons.

Um, not sure where this comment is coming from, but not everyone in North America gets to own a gun. There are laws in both the US and Canada that regulate gun ownership.

Also, how would you define lethal weapon? My car or the knife in my kitchen could be lethal.

 

[OraLabora]

Um, not sure where this comment is coming from, but not everyone in North America gets to own a gun. There are laws in both the US and Canada that regulate gun ownership.

Also, how would you define lethal weapon? My car or the knife in my kitchen could be lethal.

The current Canadian government abolished the long gun registry.

True, a kitchen knife or car can become a weapon in the wrong person’s hands. But they were designed to prepare food and provide transportation.

A gun is designed to be a lethal weapon. It should thus be subject to reasonable controls.

 

[EasterJoy]

We aren’t such a pacifist religion that we are forbidden to bear arms, as can be seen by the existence of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

I’d be curious to see what the folks in the Moral Theology forum have to say about it.

 

[Steveabrous]

The ten states that have the weakest gun laws have a 34 percent higher incidence of gun murders, 88 per cent higher rate of gun murders of women, and 139 per cent higher rate of murder of police officers than the states with the most stringent gun regulation.

This does not consider with any statistics I have seen. One possibility could be that though a state may have lax laws, high populated areas could have their own restrictions. Every stat I have seen shows th hat areas with more restricted gun laws have higher crime rates.

 

[Viki63]

Here is a list of countries by firearm-related death rate.

The US is about halfway between Japan (close to zero) and Columbia (28). The U.K. is also much lower than the US.

I live in a high crime area, 2 murders of teenagers in the drug store parking lot in the last couple months. I read every day about drunken idiots getting mad at each other at parties and shooting one another.

My opinion: the fewer guns, the fewer gun deaths. There may be a lot of responsible gun owners out there, but there are far too many fools, drunks and druggies running around with guns.

 

[EasterJoy]

To the OP:
Arming yourself in order to prevent lethal aggression towards yourself or others does not betray a lack of trust in God. We are permitted to defend our lives and the lives of others from those trying to murder us.

Having said that, the risk of unintentionally killing or seriously injuring someone with a gun is real and mitigating that risk is part of the serious obligation that someone takes upon himself or herself when taking up a lethal weapon. If you have not agreed to take on the duty to use lethal force to protect others when necessary, there is no moral obligation to kill someone who is threating to kill you or anyone else. You may morally refrain from using the force that would have been necessary to prevent someone else from trying to kill you.

In other words, you are allowed to get a gun for your own protection, provided you always exercise the care required of someone who takes the risks that go with doing that. You are not required to take up arms if you don’t want to do it, not even in your own defense. You might reason to yourself that while God might allow you to be martyred some day, God will not ever require you to have a gun at your bedside. It is highly unlikely that God will ever require you to bear arms in order to protect someone else, even though some are called to do that and have done so heroically. You can refrain from buying the gun in good conscience.

 

[EasterJoy]

Here is a list of countries by firearm-related death rate.

The US is about halfway between Japan (close to zero) and Columbia (28). The U.K. is also much lower than the US.

I live in a high crime area, 2 murders of teenagers in the drug store parking lot in the last couple months. I read every day about drunken idiots getting mad at each other at parties and shooting one another.

My opinion: the fewer guns, the fewer gun deaths. There may be a lot of responsible gun owners out there, but there are far too many fools, drunks and druggies running around with guns.​

Generally speaking, I agree with you. It is within the realm of imagination to live in a situation where anyone not visibly armed presents a near occasion of sin to armed bandits, such that arming yourself will deter a person from mortally sinning in the act of trying to kill you. That’s going to be a very rare situation.

It has happened in history that many innocent people would have died if some people had not been willing to use lethal force to defend them, but that does not imply that all persons capable of accurately shooting a gun were morally obliged to take up arms. It is OK to stockpile weapons in anticipation of a just war, but it is not the duty of individuals to do that. IOW, if you are in doubt, it is OK to just not buy the gun. As you imply, sometimes I think that is by far the more prudent course.

 

[horselvr]

The response time out here in the boonies is 25 mins. No sense in having an alarm as everyone is off to work leaving me here alone. The neighbors live quite a distance from me and we are separated by a lot of farm land.

Aside from the rabid animal that needs to be put down it was the home invasion that convinced me to get a gun. I imagine if one lives in a sub division with neighbors all around and police regularly patrolling the neighborhood you might take it upon yourself to be quite judgmental of someone out here in the boonies with no one close by that after a home invasion now owns a gun and would use it to protect herself.

I usually have to chuckle at those that feel it is better to be gutted like a fish than to protect yourself because I can assure you that when a nut case kicks your door in he is not there to play a game of tiddly winks. While your busy trying to think up ways to take the guns away from law abiding citizens you might first want to figure out how you are going to get all the illegal guns away from the criminals.

You might want to first start that endeavor in the city of Chicago.

 

[robertmidwest]

Yes it is okay for a Catholic to carry a weapon for self defense. Make sure you understand all state and local regulations and obey them.

 

[EasterJoy]

The response time out here in the boonies is 25 mins. No sense in having an alarm as everyone is off to work leaving me here alone. The neighbors live quite a distance from me and we are separated by a lot of farm land.

Aside from the rabid animal that needs to be put down it was the home invasion that convinced me to get a gun. I imagine if one lives in a sub division with neighbors all around and police regularly patrolling the neighborhood you might take it upon yourself to be quite judgmental of someone out here in the boonies with no one close by that after a home invasion now owns a gun and would use it to protect herself.

I usually have to chuckle at those that feel it is better to be gutted like a fish than to protect yourself because I can assure you that when a nut case kicks your door in he is not there to play a game of tiddly winks. While your busy trying to think up ways to take the guns away from law abiding citizens you might first want to figure out how you are going to get all the illegal guns away from the criminals.

You might want to first start that endeavor in the city of Chicago.

No, by a “very rare situation,” I meant that with regards to absolute numbers most people can fairly expect that they will never have a home invader kicking down their door. The OP, for instance, seemed concerned about dangers that had not arisen yet and might not ever arise. You, OTOH, live in a situation where it could be argued that you ought to have a gun around even if you don’t like the idea that you might have to use it.

Rural areas used to be a lot safer, but from what I hear some rural areas in Oregon have drug problems not only as serious as in the cities, but made more serious by the isolation of potential drug-crime victims. Drug addiction kills character. It makes people into animals, when it comes to morals. That these addicts are enslaved to the drug that does this to them and are good persons when they are not using does not make help their victims! The loss of timber revenues have also left some Oregon counties extremely thin in the law enforcement department, and the criminals know it. There are absolutely many places in Oregon where I would think a gun almost a necessity. It’s just that most Oregonians don’t live in one of those places.

Yes it is okay for a Catholic to carry a weapon for self defense. Make sure you understand all state and local regulations and obey them.

Also learn how to use a gun effectively for self-defense and how to avoid using it in a tragic accident, instead. It doesn’t do much good to protect yourself from outside harm by increasing the likelihood of accidental harm by even more!