A Sandy Hook Elementary school teacher named Vicki, a church-going woman of 27, aspired to teach her first graders something new every day, one of her friends told the Associated Press. On Dec. 14 last year, she gave her life to teach them the ultimate lesson about the love and sacrifice of Christ. When she heard shooting and screaming, she hid her kids in a closet and even stuffed some of them in cupboards. When the shooter entered her classroom and a few of her scared students ran out of their hiding places, she literally threw herself in front of the gun to save their lives.
In response to such a tragedy, politicians clamor for gun control or gun rights, but I believe the mindset Vicki displayed is the only morally flawless one. Only through nonviolent, self-sacrificial resistance can one show love and compassion to both the shooter and the victim. However, we also must be proactive to lessen the instances of tragedies like Sandy Hook, or at least mitigate the severity of them.
Some argue that military-grade guns and high-capacity magazines ought to be made illegal, as President Barack Obama’s recent legislative move attempts to do. After all, the argument goes, they are made to cause as much damage in as little time as possible, and thus no one outside the military ought to own them, even with background checks and restrictions. But there are counter arguments which assert such legislation would not make a significant difference. For one, school shootings and other savage uses of guns can be carried out nearly as easily with semi-automatic hunting rifles or shotguns. Another point is that, practically speaking, gun control laws will only remove guns from the hands of those who would use them safely, responsibly, and defensively. The idea is that only lawful citizens are concerned with abiding by the law, and thus, if guns were made illegal, only those who are the least trustworthy with firearms will be armed. These arguments must be granted at least some merit.
Others argue that the more people armed, the safer everyone will be, because there will more likely be a responsible gun carrier to stop a massacre like the one in Newtown, Conn. But the rejoinder is that the shooter of Sandy Hook was using the rifle of his mother, who was the registered owner of several firearms. If guns exist among the public, there exists the possibility that a deranged individual will gain possession of one. It would be better to at least reduce the number of firearms that were made to kill human beings than to do essentially nothing. This argument must be granted merit as well.
As for me, though I am skeptical about the efficacy of gun control laws, I see no redeeming reason for any Christian to own a military-grade firearm or gun made for killing human beings. Consider the commonly stated reason for owning guns: self and home defense. The Second Amendment undoubtedly grants the right to American citizens to own guns, and the law allows the strictly defensive use of them. I have no doubt it is as American as apple pie to own a firearm, but is it a Christ-like investment? Followers of Jesus ought to be peacemakers, and we ought to go about making peace in the way Jesus did. Jesus did not make peace through harming his enemies. He did not conquer the violent with violence. He did not destroy some in order to save others, though he had the power to do so. Rather, Christ’s compassion extended to all. He did not call God’s vengeance upon the soldiers who crucified him but rather pleaded on their behalf for forgiveness.
So, too, should our compassion extend to all, even those deranged shooters or home invaders whom we must find non-lethal and sometimes self-sacrificial ways of pacifying. Why, then, would a Christian own guns made for killing human beings, much less harbor the fascination with them that is so often present in conservative Christian circles?
If the place to which the believer is called is always on Vicki’s side of the gun, and not the other way around, why not beat our swords into plowshares and exchange the assault rifles for an alarm system?
