The Truth About Guns, God And The Second Amendment

The latest mass shooting to grab the media’s attention, in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, has sparked the national debate about firearms once again.

That “debate” which ebbs and flows with the news, is really a one-sided one, with proponents of gun control taking advantage of every one of these horrific events to try and further their political agenda. Those of us who support our Second Amendment rights merely stand our ground and let them wail and posture for the cameras.

It really doesn’t seem like those who are after gun control care much about the victims of these killings, other than as props for use in pushing their agenda.

I have yet to hear of one of them writing a letter of condolence (not a letter looking for support) to the families of victims. Nor have I heard of any of them taking action to support the survivors. Maybe some have, but I haven’t heard of it.

Actions of that type are likely to come out of those of us on the right anyway. The left is more than ready to give their time and money to social activism, but study after study has shown that it is the conservatives in this country who actually support non-profit organizations which help people.

So why the debate? Much of it is driven by fear.

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Everyone I know, who is in favor of gun control, is afraid of guns. Maybe there are some out there who aren’t, but the vast majority of them have never held a gun in their lives, are totally convinced that guns are evil incarnate, and therefore are convinced that anyone who would touch or own a gun has to be evil as well.

A Conflict Based on Ignorance

Ignorance in the gun control crowd is rabid. We see this constantly, as politicians, reporters and other public figures make mistake after mistake in their tirades against the evil of guns.

They are able to get away with false narratives, like calling semi-automatic rifles “assault weapons” and talking about the “gun show loophole,” simply because their audience doesn’t know any more about guns than they do.

This is part of what the people at the top, those behind the gun control movement are counting on. As with many such political movements, much is dependent on convincing the population that a lie is the truth. Hitler, who took over Germany with lies, put it best: “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” The left has repeated their lies often enough, that people are quoting them right and left, without fact-checking what they are saying.

Some of these glaring facts revolve around the AR-15 sporting rifle, which has come to the forefront of the debate once again. An AR-15 is no more deadly than any other semi-automatic rifle, and much less deadly than some. Yet it is constantly villanized by those on the left. Why? Because it looks scary.

Granted, the two latest mass shootings to gain the media’s attention both featured AR-15 rifles. The Las Vegas shooter used AR-15s, equipped with bump stocks to kill 58 and wound almost ten times that many. Likewise, the Sutherland Springs killer used an AR-15. But what the mainstream media is intentionally overlooking, is that the man who stopped the Sutherland Springs also used an AR-15 rifle.

While these two examples tend to paint the AR-15 in a bad light, statistically the AR-15 is rarely used in crimes. For that matter, rifles are rarely used in crimes. Most crimes involving firearms are committed using pistols, simply because a rifle is too bulky to carry around and conceal.

Yet it is the AR-15 that the left is consistently trying to make illegal. Why is that? I would have to say that only a part of that is its “scary” appearance. The rest of the reason is that staging a revolution requires rifles; you really can’t do it with just pistols.

If we look at gun control as part of the left’s total agenda, then getting rifles, especially semi-automatic rifles that are styled after military ones, out of the hands of ordinary, law-abiding citizens, makes sense.

Why Do We Need Our Guns?

I would contend that we need those rifles even more today than ever before. Not only do we need them for the original intent of the Second Amendment, that of protecting our country from enemies, both foreign and domestic, but also to protect ourselves and those around us.

My reasoning for this is that the threat of terrorism, especially Islamic terrorism is higher today than it has ever been before. Even though most of those terrorist attacks happen in other countries, we have seen a higher number of them here in the US, since the rise of ISIS. Now, with ISIS losing territory in the Middle East, they’re putting more effort into their terrorist operations. So we can expect to see more fanatical Muslims committing atrocities here at home.

While these terrorists have a plethora of weapons to choose from, the most popular weapons in the terrorist community are bombs and the AK-47 rifle. This is largely due to the ready availability of the AK-47 rifle, worldwide.

Here in the US they aren’t as common, but the AR-15 is. So, chances are, terrorists working in the United States will use AR-15s, just as they did in San Bernardino, California.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t relish the idea of going up against a terrorist armed with any rifle, with only a pistol in my hand. I’d do it if I had to, but I sure wouldn’t be happy about it. The advantage that rifle would give them would make it much riskier for me, greatly increasing my chances of dying in the exchange.

While I’m willing to take that risk, I’d rather minimize it as much as possible. Being a martyr trying to protect society really isn’t the way I want to go.

As part of ISIS’ increase in international terrorism, they’ve announced that they are going to be targeting Christian churches. So there’s a very good chance that we will be seeing an increased number of churches being attacked in the future.

It’s obvious why Muslim terrorists would target Christian churches. After all, ISIS has been targeting Christians in the Middle East. Today, there isn’t one single native Christian in Mosul, after being under the control of ISIS forces for three years. They sought out and killed every Christian, as part of their “holy war.” As they have throughout history, Muslims kill those who don’t convert to their religion.

But the mass killings which have happened in American churches in recent years haven’t been motivated by ISIS or any other terrorist organization.

Some have been racially oriented hate crimes and others fall into the same category as mass shootings in schools, theaters and other places where people congregate. Churches are targeted, because they seem like a place where people aren’t likely to be armed, a de facto “gun free zone,” whether they are legally one or not.

This idea of churches being a gun free zone makes sense, as guns and the violence that they are used to cause seems, on the surface, to be the opposite of what the church stands for.

But those of us who know the Holy Scriptures know that the right of self-defense was given by God, not by the government. What is known as the Castle Doctrine comes straight out of the Bible, in Exodus 22:2, where God says that those who kill in self-defense are not guilty of murder.

Part of the confusion comes from the most common translation of the Sixth Commandment as “Thou shalt not kill.” But in reality, the word that is translated in our Bibles as “kill” is really “murder” or “homicide.” There’s a very clear distinction between killing in self-defense and committing homicide.

I doubt that there are many killers who actually read the Bible, let alone become biblical scholars. So the prevailing idea that churches are gun free zones will prevail.

Some Christians will enforce this idea, being amongst the crowd of those who are afraid of guns. But as Democrats love to say about us conservatives, we stick to our Bibles and our guns. So, few Christians are likely to go along with the idea of disarming the church, just to appear more holy.

The Lighthouse Mexico Church of God, in Oswego, New York, a strongly liberal state, put it the best. Their church sign read “Locked and Loaded. We are not a gun free zone” in the wake of the Sutherland Springs shooting. Like other churches across the country, they are taking proactive steps to ensure that their congregation isn’t the next victim of a mass shooting.

Video first seen on Fox News.

Less than six weeks before the Sutherland Springs shooting, an armed gunman entered the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, in Antioch, Tennessee, killing one woman and leaving six others wounded. This was apparently a racially-charged hate crime, done in retaliation to a similar crime in 2015.

Other than motive, the big difference between these two crimes was how they were stopped. In both cases, the killer’s reign of terror was put to an end by a good guy with a gun; something the left doesn’t want to admit exists.

But in Tennessee, the killer was confronted by armed church members, while in Texas, the killer wasn’t confronted until he walked out of the church sanctuary. Apparently, there was nobody in the congregation who was armed, a surprising turn of events for Texas.

What Are We Going to Do About This?

Most churches are like shooting fish in a barrel. Killers have a high concentration of targets in a small area. Even if they don’t aim well, chances are that their shots will hit someone.

There is little chance of many escaping their attention too, as the number of egress points is limited, especially in smaller churches. If the killer stands in the door of a small church, which is normally in the back of the sanctuary, there may not be any effective way to escape.

Larger churches have the advantage of space, as well as more exists the congregation can use. There are also more places to hide in a large church, offering that option. But the big advantage that large churches have is that of finances. They can afford to hire armed security personnel, many of whom are off-duty police officers.

Smaller churches, many of who are barely making it financially, can’t afford this option. But there are few churches in the country, which do not have gun owners in attendance. The big question is how many of those gun owners have concealed carry licenses, allowing them the legal right to bring their guns to church with them.

I’ll guarantee you this… there were more guns in American Churches this past Sunday, than there have ever been before. Christians are people of faith; but they are also practical people.

They don’t just cling to their Bibles and their guns because of some love for them, but because they recognize their need for guns and Bibles in their lives. Many Christians wouldn’t think of going to church without their Bibles, and now many Christians won’t think of going to church without their guns as well.

This is a change for the better. It reduces the options for potential mass murderers by one. I hope that adherents of other faiths follow suit. As a society, we won’t be able to get rid of these mass murderers, until we eliminate the venues that they use. That means having armed, trained people on hand, who are able to put a stop to the carnage.

It also means that churches need to put a plan together; one which allows the armed members of their congregations the opportunity to defend themselves and everyone around them. They will be more effective, if they can work together.

They will also be more effective if the congregation knows how to react, so as to not get in their way. One of the hardest things about defending a church or other crowded location from shooters is people running in fear, right into the line of fire.

The advice that is normally given in an active shooter situation is fairly good. Those options are to flee, hide or fight. If a church has armed members who are able to defend the congregation, they have the fight part under control. It’s up to everyone else to do the run or hide part.

But they have to do it in such a way as to not get in the way of those who are fighting. In many cases, the best thing that unarmed people can do is to get down on the floor, making themselves a small target and getting out of the way of those who are trying to defend them.

This is where many churches are likely to fall short. In an effort to not scare the congregation, they aren’t going to teach their people how to react to a shooting situation. Sadly, this means that they will actually be making things more dangerous for their congregants.

In my mind, it’s better to scare them a little, and ensure that their safety. This is the safest way to survive!

This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.com.

Written by

Bill White is the author of Conquering the Coming Collapse, and a former Army officer, manufacturing engineer and business manager. More recently, he left the business world to work as a cross-cultural missionary on the Mexico border. Bill has been a survivalist since the 1970s, when the nation was in the latter days of the Cold War. He had determined to head into the Colorado Rockies, should Washington ever decide to push the button. While those days have passed, the knowledge Bill gained during that time hasn’t. He now works to educate others on the risks that exist in our society and how to prepare to meet them. You can send Bill a message at editor [at] survivopedia.com.

Latest comments
  • JESUS CHRIST ADMONISHMENT REF. SWORDS, I.E.THE NECESSITY OF ARMING ONE’S SELF
    “The most famous New Testament passage is a command of Jesus for His disciples to sell their garments and buy a sword (Luke 22:36-38). Personally, I do not believe this is a good proof text for being armed, but it does show that being armed was a norm for that time, and Jesus does not object.”
    THE POINT THAT SEEMS TO BE MISSED OR SIMPLY IGNORED IS THE FACT THAT JESUS CHRIST WELL KNEW THAT HIS DISCIPLES ALREADY WERE ARMED AND MORE SPECIFICALLY KNEW EXACTLY HOW MANY SWORDS THEY ALREADY POSSESSED AND THE LOGICAL AND OBVIOUS CONCLUSION IS THAT HIS ADMONISHMENT WAS RECORDED FOR OUR BENEFIT IN THIS DAY AND TIME, INTENDED FOR US RATHER THAN HIS DISCIPLES.

  • HELLO, Bill. When you think about it, the Liberal/ Progressive/ Marxist/ Luciferians are simply following their god’s (Leader’s) Teachings – About the Big Lie. No Surprises there. Bill M.

  • No guns in church? Not in my church. and I live in Penna. too many ex-mafiosos (Italian, Polish, germans, Irish, and Native American). Our pastor, a woman, carries a shoulder holster because her husband romanced her into it. Not in the sanctuary, but he does (a targa). Jesus said to sell your CLOAK and buy a sword (weapon of choice then). The area, btw, is the heroin CAPITAL of Penna, Hazleton.

  • so of what you say is true. However, as a nam vet, gun owner, and middle left person, I disagree with some of what you say. Most people who want some form of gun control DO NOT WANT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR GUNS. we just want guns out of the hands of terrorists, mental unbalanced (judged by professionals), escaped con and people who escape from mental hospitals.
    I do not feel that these requests are unreasonable, DO YOU????????

    • Again with the lie, “we don’t want to take your guns away” Way back in the 1970’s the gun control people realized that you cannot just make guns illegal overnight. they said, and I quote, ” we don’t want the whole loaf of bread right away, we just want a slice now and another slice later”. If you served then you took an OATH to defend the Constitution. Just because we are civilians now, that oath to God is still in effect. It does not expire until we die. The second amendment was put in the Bill of Rights for a specific reason. I suggest doing a little research into the writings of the founding fathers. Thank you for your service.

      • HEY, Drake ! Very Well Said ! Thank You Brother. Yes, especially read James Madison – a Real Education.

    • Sorry, John, I too, am a combat vet, LEO, and long time student of society, government, philosophy and cultures, and you are simply wrong–even though the inherent logic might be understandable–because of the simple indisputable, immutable facts which trump all other reasonable arguments against gun control.

      Beside The Fact that that ANY and ALL Gun control is not only strictly UN-Constitutional and therefore illegal by specific statute (18 USCC 241-242) and reinforced by established SCOTUS case law precedent, but the Framers’ own rationale for this Absolute establishment of “Shall Not Be Infringed” PERIOD! With no qualifiers, conditions, equivocations or exceptions, is actually because all of these supposed ‘good common sense gun safety’ proposals are Nothing less than well focused eventual gun confiscation by incremental methodology by the Totalitarian Tyrannists, Leftists, Marxists, Communists Religionist Terrorists, or whatever you want to call them.

      Some of us realize and fully understand this, but most are still stuck of the holier-than-thou government brainwashed in cognitive dissonance mind trap of ” that person “shouldn’t” have guns, or whatever, and this is exactly what the Deep State mind controllers need as a foot in the door to the slippery slope of no return… And that’s what your problem is, John. And now ‘They’ have you ‘almost’ where they want you. Which is eventually handing over your weapons peacefully, which is the ‘good’ thing to do. Because the main reason your reasoning is flawed is because almost anybody can be ‘forensically’ background and if not currently committing some kind of crime (which can be (illegal) and cause for illegal permanent gun prohibition) by our current system of fiat government, for something illegal they ‘didn’t get caught yet’ doing! For your religionists–some of whom like to quote the bible here–it’s like this one: ‘…there, but for the grace of god, go I…’ or, ‘Let he, who is without sin, cast the first stone…’.

      If we really ‘wanted’ to stop the Deep State’s disarmament agenda we’d simply enforce the laws already on the books and simply lock up those who are or attempting to commit criminal acts, and repeal all laws designed solely for the eventual purpose of mass disarmament justifications.

      If a person who is out and free and NOT committing an in-progress act of criminality, or obviously conspiring, threatening, or actively planning to imminently do something criminal. Then Constitutionally there CANNOT be any restrictions or prohibitions on gun ownership. And any specious and highly flawed notion of subjective determinations made by ascertaining. arbitrarily if ‘ person shouldn’t be allowed to have’ cannot stand as good cause. If a person is obviously mentally ill, they need Help, not basic rights violations by a government only hell bent on populate disarmament.

      Then We’d form PAC groups–all it takes is a handful of people–to get our state legislators to find out why most of the local district state’s attorneys are corrupted and not ordering the state police to arrest and cuff and perp walk to jail pending a bond hearing any snake politician or public servant who violates 18: 241-242, by trying to make any gun control laws or background check registrations (proof of how brainwashed and stupid most of us is the fact no background check ever did or ever will stop a determined criminal from getting what they want, yet people still agree we need it) are not to mention his Oath of Office, which provides that their Primary duty of that office is to uphold the Constitution! Which makes it even a more egregious offense.

      Until we get down into the fire hole and start acting on our politicians, instead of bullshit discussions that only buy the ‘enemy’ all the time in the world to keep chipping away at your gun rights, and your mind..

      Because unless we start asking ourselves every day the question: ‘Why are these politicians and lawmakers and prosecuters not being arrested for violating our inalienable Constitutional rights…we’ll keep getting what we deserve, and we’ll deserve what we get.

  • Yes, the people who want our guns are communists. They know they can never dominate us while we have guns.

  • The problem with gun control is it mainly penalizes law abiding citizens, because the bad guys don’t pay any attention to laws. The gun control opponents I talk with want every gun registered , insured, and kept under lock and key (when you need it you need it QUICK). That has nothing to do with keeping the guns out of the hands of bad guys and has always been the precursor to confiscation (a matter of historic record) nazi Germany, Czechoslovakia, etc.

    • I agree that gun laws do target law abiding people. there needs to be some way to keep guns out of hands of bad guys.
      What is insured for guns??? I never heard of that.
      The only reason to lock up guns is to keep them out of the hands of children. Children killing children has not happened yet or has it?
      Registered, I have reservations about registering guns. The historical reference is completely correct..
      But I personally do not have the answers

      • You can keep guns out of the hands of bad guys by enforcing existing laws. felon in possession, 10 years, straw purchase = 10 years …. read the laws.

        • I have. So you believe the black market on firearms doesn’t exist???
          How do you think criminals get guns???
          There are not enough law enforcement agents to enforce them.
          Just enforcement is not enough. we the people need to help.
          How you help is up to you..

  • Freedom loving Americans can’t help but eye with suspicion anyone who wants to infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms. Gun laws infringe upon the right to keep and bear arms to a greater or lesser depending upon the law.

  • A good example of a lame a brain gun law is making schools gun free zones. How many children may have been saved if a parent or teacher had been armed at the school shootings. The shootings probably wouldn’t have happened if it was common knowledge that there was probably someone at the school armed. I dare the gun control proponents to make an intelligent argument against allowing law abiding citizens, concealed weapon permit holders in particular, to be armed in the schools.

  • With the recent increase of violent acts and the uncertainty of politics I decided it’s a good time to aquire my Concealed carry permit ANd carry everywhere My wife and I go. There are a. Alarming .number of ACQUAINTANCES / friends who label me as PARAnoid. Sadly I’ve seen so much negativity I’ve had to un-friend several of them via social media. I simply have little patience for the IGNORAnt gun grabber rants. I SIncerely hope That I never have to use deadly force, however I refer to the scout moto “be prepared”.

  • yes and if you read it, it reserves the right to bear arm in a state militia, not for individuals.
    By the way, where and when did you serve? What have you done for your country, not what the country does for you.
    I was a member of the NRA, but quit due to there stance on military style full auto weapons.
    No one needs them for hunting or sport, but some seem to need them.
    OH I DO NOTLIE.
    Have a great day.

    • if you only had a single shot rifle , but someone was in your house threatening to kill you and your family, i bet you’d put a round in that sigle shot in hopes of killing or incapacitating them wouldnt you ?

      • *single

      • By the way, I own three handguns and two rifles. I would not own a single shot weapon, except to train my kids on how to shoot and gun safety. On a personal note, I buried my eldest son because he and his friends forgot that GUNS KILL AND THAT IS ALL THEY ARE DESIGNED TO DO be it animals or people.
        I have NEVER pulled for gun confiscation of ANY KIND. I just want to make sure the SANE people have them.
        IF THAT IS WRONG THEN ARM EVERYONE AND RELIVE THE OK CORRAL.
        THE SECOND ADMEDMENT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT THE RIGHT OF AN INDIDIDUAL TO OWN ARMS.
        IT STATES INDIVIDUALS OWN ARMS IN A STATE MILITIA.
        So read into it all you want.

    • “….. but quit due to there stance on military style full auto weapons.” … You maybe misspoke or perhaps are ignorant of the current laws … please go back and read the NFA. I am quite sure that the NRA (which is actually PEOPLE, not aliens) did not advocate that full auto or select fire weapons be used for hunting. Yours is yet another example of leftist propaganda and has no basis in fact.

    • John, when was the Constitution written? Right after the American Revolution, by the same men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and fought against the British. In those days the militia were armed citizens who came to the defense of their local areas. Remember the MINUTEMEN? Local farmers and tradesmen? As they fought against a government they believed was unfair, the Founding Fathers included that phrase in the Constitution to insure that the new government would not become another dictatorship or monarchy that would repress the rights of average citizens.
      When I enlisted in the Army (,1974-2000) I took an oath to defend the Constitution and the USA against “All enemies, FOREIGN or DOMESTIC.” The best way to insure a dictatorship is take away the citizen’s guns. Who could overthrow a government defended by its armed population?
      I swear, the liberals want to take away all our guns because they’re afraid that the citizens will turn on them and take THEIR power away!

    • I don’t believe that you are lying, just not fully informed of what you talk. The Second Amendment says that in order the RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS shall not be infringed.. Thomas Jefferson was asked who the Militia was. It is every able bodied man. In those days, it was a rule for the men to bring their firearms to church on Sundays, so they could practice shooting. Even today, many states have militia to back up the National Guard in the event of a National Emergency.
      The original purpose, and even the primary current purpose, for the Second Amendment was to protect the FIRST AMENDMENT and the rest of the Bill of Rights.

      • OK I get it. You do not want to hear anything that might make you think.. BY the way, the second amendment has the possibility of protection of .the southern states from their slaves in an uprising.
        Rich 1787. I guess you forgot about the Articles of Confederation (our first try) .When I took my oath, I ended in a war Zone. The minutemen were formed because we did not have a standing army, so civilians were need to fight. We now have a standing army, so minutemen are NOT needed.
        The NRA protects the “right” of the people to own military style semi-automatic assault weapons and large capacity mags. That is why I Ieft the NRA.
        I done with this blog. Have fun talking to the same side of any issue.
        Yes we have the National Guard and Reserves, and State Guards (I served in Washington”s State Guard for 20 years).
        One last time, I could be mis-informed about some things, but I have no season to LIE.

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