Gun Control Issues and Clergy

[Dan Fienen]

Personally I have little interest in rehashing the gun control arguments or whether clergy should even touch such unclean objects as guns.  But with a new thread open to talk about such items I thought that a thread to move those arguments about gun control here and let the other thread be enjoyed by those who enjoy shooting sports.

Dan

[Brian Stoffregen]

Even though I have never owned any kind of firearm, I am not anti-gun. I think that "gun control" is a poor term. We need to control people. Some people should not be allowed to own guns. I don't have a list of criteria or know how we might limit gun ownership to only responsible people; but blaming guns for what some irresponsible and insane people have done is putting the blame on the wrong sylLAble.

[John Mundinger]

I knew an LCMS preacher who wore cowboy boots and packed heat under his cassock when standing in the pulpit.

[LutherMan]

I knew an LCMS preacher who wore cowboy boots and packed heat under his cassock when standing in the pulpit.

That's how it should be.  We live in dangerous times...

[Brian Stoffregen]

I'm in favor of gun control.

If you can't control your gun, you just won't hit anything.

 

How much of that control is physical and how much mental? It seems to me that the tragedies were caused by guys who could control their guns, but not their minds. The members who I trust to have weapons during worship are one's I believe are in complete control of their mental abilities.

[John Mundinger]

I knew an LCMS preacher who wore cowboy boots and packed heat under his cassock when standing in the pulpit.

That's how it should be.  We live in dangerous times...

It was western Colorado and in the '60's.  It had nothing to do with dangerous times and everything to do with his persona.

[J.L. Precup]

I was a brand new chaplain on my first ship.  We were tied to the pier, and one morning a very senior officer came to speak with me.  His story sounded like a movie script:  his wife woke him the previous night and said she thought someone was in the house.  He took his pistol and walked downstairs.  Sure enough, there was someone in the house.  He chased them out the door yelling for the intruder to stop.  The intruder continued to run into the back yard by the garage.  The officer fired his weapon.

He reflected that he learned two things.  First, it's not a good idea to shoot a hole in your own boat parked by the garage.  Second, it's impossible to aim and defecate at the same time.

He was late to work that morning because he went first to a police station to turn in his weapon.

[Charles Austin]

So this thread really has nothing to do with gun-control, the way those words are normally used by ordinary people.

[Dan Fienen]

You should know by now that threads have a tendency to wander far from the original topic.  But participants can also try to bring them back on topic.  Doesn't always work but does sometimes.  What do you want to say about gun control?

Dan

[Dan Fienen]

This may be thread drift away from standard gun control issues, but some have expressed distaste for the idea that pastors should have anything to do with guns and shooting sports. Is it inappropriate for pastors to have anything to do with guns?  What about guns for target shooting (I would include skeet in this)?  How about hunting?  Obtaining a concealed carry permit?

[Dan Fienen]

I posted before I read your article.

[Brian Stoffregen]

This may be thread drift away from standard gun control issues, but some have expressed distaste for the idea that pastors should have anything to do with guns and shooting sports. Is it inappropriate for pastors to have anything to do with guns?  What about guns for target shooting (I would include skeet in this)?  How about hunting?  Obtaining a concealed carry permit?

I have no problems with folks or pastors owning such firearms and using them for such purposes. We had numerous members in Wyoming whose meat was the wild game they had shot: moose, elk, deer, antelope, occasionally bear. I do wonder about a weapon that is designed for mass-destruction - namely an automatic or semi-automatic rifle with a large magazine cartridge. A hunter will not fire 30 rounds into a deer.

[Charles Austin]

If you honor the Second Amendment, you know it presumes the right to regulate, so why do you resist regulation? The second amendment is about a well-regulated militia. That is the subject of the amendment. Are you guys that? I don't think so.

[David Garner]

If you honor the Second Amendment, you know it presumes the right to regulate, so why do you resist regulation? The second amendment is about a well-regulated militia. That is the subject of the amendment. Are you guys that? I don't think so.

Since your claim that the Second Amendment is about a militia is neither historically nor legally accurate, we can dismiss the rest of what you have to say on the subject.

[Charles Austin]

Stronger gun control laws now affect millions of Americans, but some states are still resisting controls desired by a majority of Americans.
22 laws in 11 states make it harder to own guns.
11 laws in 8 states make it easier to own guns.

http://billmoyers.com/2013/12/13/more-than-half-of-americans-now-have-tougher-gun-safety-laws/

If democracy works, we should be having more gun control laws, since a majority of our people favor stricter controls.  I have enough faith in democracy to believe that this will happen. I just hope we don't have to wait too long.