This needs to be thrown into the blog stream of consciousness at some point, so I’ll insert it here. I’m not as against guns as I thought.

It’s not really that I changed my mind. It’s that when I thought of “guns,” I had a specific thing in mind. And not the whole spectrum of gunnery that is out there.

(It’s a bit like when a man asks his wife if she wants a dog. He’s thinking Doberman, she’s thinking poodle.)

Keith Brenton wrote an article for New Wineskins that was titled “Fun, Food and Fear.” That was his three categories of gun ownership: those who use guns for recreation, those who use guns for hunting, those who use guns for protection. There are probably other ways to break it down, but those aren’t bad.

I understand owning guns for recreation. Humans like to show off our dexterity, our skills. One way we do that is by competing in games of accuracy: shooting baskets, playing pool, tossing horseshoes, shooting targets.

Hunting can be closely related to that. For some, it’s an effort to obtain necessary food. For most it’s sport, related to the above. Sometimes it bleeds over into the area of protection, like when a farmer shoots the coyote that’s threatening his animals.

I accept the choice about protection. I haven’t made the same choice, nor would I encourage that choice, but I accept it. The article I wrote about “If You Choose To Own A Gun” was directed at people in that category.

I want to discuss some things about Christians and violence, and I know that many will think I’m using those articles to speak out on gun control. So I thought I should lay out my basic views on guns before going too far with the other.

The last few weeks have been troubling to me. While the Newtown tragedy was horrific, I’ve found the time following to be equally tragic. [Edit, January 8: Danny Sims called my hand on this bit of hyperbole. He’s right. That statement is unjustified. Improper discourse does not equal the horrors of the Newtown tragedy.]

I’m a little surprised that society wasn’t able to come to a greater understanding of the issues surrounding guns.

I’m dumbfounded at what I’ve seen in Christians. The discussions on social media have been disappointing at best. (And yes, I’ve been disappointed with myself at times)

Amidst all the noise, I’ve heard some convincing arguments from different points of view. I wish more of them had been based on spiritual reasons, but that doesn’t keep them from having some logic behind them. So I’ve got no pronouncements about no guns, more guns, fewer laws, more laws.

But I do have some suggestions for Christians who choose to own guns:

• Remember what our priorities are, things like justice, mercy and peacemaking. Your reasons for owning a gun shouldn’t be about freedoms, rights or protecting your property.
• Remember that guns are instruments of death, and death is an enemy of God. Guns are not to be loved, cherished, nor bragged about. They are tools.
• Let the thought of using your gun against a human being fill you with dread and sadness. Thoughts of vengeance and triumph should be left to people of the world; having to use a gun would be a tragedy.
• Never practice shooting with human-shaped targets.
• Base your reasons for gun ownership on God’s Word, not any human documents. It was not the Bill of Rights that Moses brought down from Sinai, nor the Declaration of Independence which Jesus proclaimed to his followers.
• Be sure that your decisions are not led by human organizations, be it the Democratic Party, the NRA, the ACLU or the Tea Party. None of those organizations, nor others like them, have as their primary goal the glorification of God.
• Owning a gun is a great responsibility. Your guns should be secured so that others cannot get to them.

Those are some thoughts I have to share. Do you have others? Are there some listed here that you feel should be left out or changed in some way? I’d like to hear your thoughts.

photo from MorgueFile.com