Incidences of mass shooting are increasing in number and many people are falling victims of such. The shootings cause deaths to many while others sustain serious wounds. Many people tend to possess guns illegally and this has resulted in a number of shootings. Various organizations such as Christians are trying to look at ways through which gun shootings can be prevented. Such debates always result in varied opinions, leading to failure of getting better solutions to address the problem. This is mainly because those who try to come up with solutions to solve the problems land on one side that advocates for curtailing rights to access guns and protect the rights to own guns. This has created a split between Christians where others advocate for gun rights while others are for gun control. Therefore, the primary aim of the research paper is to discuss Christians and gun control by focusing on a biblical aspect of the matter.
Guns had not been invented at the time the when the bible was written and this implies that there is no biblical reference to gun control. Therefore as Christians, there are verses contained in the bible that can act as sources of reference to make decisions on gun control. Most of the social problems that many people face in the present have solutions that can be sort from the bible (Belloni, Chernozhukov, Hansen, & Kozbur, 2016) . Issues to do with gun control have solutions from the bible, solved by how one interprets the bible. When Christians come up with the right interpretation of the Bible, it can help to address the issue of gun control (Belloni et al., 2016) . Looking through from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the bible addresses issues of weapons in which guns are part. Understanding how these weapons were used when they were used and the measure put in place to control their use can help to address gun control (Squires, 2012) .
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Verses Supporting Weapon Possession
In the book of (Exodus 15:3), God is being described as a warrior and most of the heroes who are found in the Old Testament were warriors. Looking at this verse in relation to gun control it will be noticed that the idea of disarming the populace is entirely inconsistent with the doctrines of the Old Testament (Belloni et al., 2016) . Gun control is a contemporary issue facing people in the current century but Christians do not want to apply to Old Testament principles when addressing such problem in the society. Weapons possession was not condemned by Jesus, but affirmed the possession of weapons as not being inherently wrong (Belloni et al., 2016) .
Luke 22:36-38 “But now,” he said, “take your money and a traveler’s bag, and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one! For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: ‘He was counted among the rebels.’ Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true.” “Look, Lord,” they replied, “we have two swords among us.” “That’s enough,” he said. Looking at this verse critically, it is evident that possession of a weapon is condemned in the verses. In Mathew 26:52 “Put away your sword,’ Jesus told him.” It is clear that in this cases Jesus did not command Peter o get rid of the sword neither did He condemn possession of the weapon. The mentioned versus above provide guidance and this can be used by Christians to help solve the issue of guns in the society (Belloni et al., 2016) .
Verses Encouraging Limitation Use of Weapons
Use of weapons is allowed but there are limitations, which have been set in the bible, and Christians need to give more light. The word of the Lord is very clear when it comes to underscoring a very controlled use of weapons. In Exodus 20:13, the bible says, “You must not murder.” In this verse, the bible is very clear that human beings are not allowed to murder anyone through any means even if it is by using a gun (Schrag, 2005) . In Ecclesiastes 9:18 the Bible records that “better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.” In this verse, the bible focus on the behavior of the individual in which people are being encouraged wisdom in all that they do (Squires, 2012) . The verse also limits the use of weapons war as they can be used to destroy that which is good. When the use of a weapon is not restrained such as guns, they can result in damage (Schrag, 2005) .
Following the teachings obtained from the Bible, Christians have a greater responsibility to educate people on the ways of the Lord. This can be done by focusing on scriptures, which limit the use of weapons (Squires, 2012) . This will make people aware that the use of a gun is not allowed and this can help to deter other people from using the gun Schrag, 2005) . There are people who get involved in criminal activities since they have not found someone to speak to them and tell them that what they are doing is wrong (Belloni et al., 2016) . Encouraging limitation use of a weapon is a similar idea as gun control. This implies that Christians need to advocate for gun control policies, which put in place by the government (Schrag, 2005) .
In Mathew 7:12 the bible says, “Those who use the sword die by the sword.” In this case, people are being restrained from the use of weapon. Literally, it can be said that those who kill by the gun will die through the same means (Schrag, 2005) . Therefore, the position of Christians as far as gun control is concern is to limit its use. From the scripture, it is evident that Christians should lead on the forefront to advocate for gun control (Squires, 2012) . The principles obtained from the Bible should help to guide any debate or discussions involving the subject of gun control (Belloni et al., 2016) . On the other hand, Christians claims that they are faced with numerous challenges to advocate from gun control since many people are not willing to apply biblical doctrines. This has made the fight against gun use to take varied aspects, which makes it hard to reach a solution (Belloni et al., 2016) .
Verses That Declares Weapons off Limits
Through reading of the bibles, Christians believe that there shall come a moment when there will be no weapon in the world. This means that the efforts made to ensure that there are ways by which use of guns can be controlled will be won when the time comes (Squires, 2012) . This is shown in the book of Revelation 21:4, where the bible says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Unauthorized use of a gun has resulted in a number of families shedding tears since innocent lives have been lost in the process (Belloni et al., 2016) . Most killings being done in the society are with guns and several families are under pain. Part of the Christians believes that gun control is part of the strategy that can be used to bring comfort to the families. Guns are being used but according to Christians, there will be apartment solution as stated in the book of revelation (Squires, 2012) .
Further, anticipation to end the crimes committed by gun is shown in the book of Isaiah 2:4 where the Bible says, “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes (Belloni et al., 2016) . They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Schrag, 2005) . Nations will no longer fight against nations, nor train for war anymore.” Christians believe that there are certain crimes, which are being committed in the society, which are far much beyond human intervention, but only God can solve them. It is through the work of the Lord that can end the crimes committed by guns. However, human beings have the mandate to try any possible solution such as gun control but this will not end the problem (Belloni et al., 2016) .
Additionally, Christians believes that gun control is matter of personal conviction and freedom. This personal freedom and conviction need to be guided by loving God and living up according to his ways (Schrag, 2005) . Through these, people will restrain from owning guns, which they use to commit criminal activities. Many people due to experiences are viewing guns as obstacles for solving criminal activities and behavior. Due to these Christians believes that there is a need to put a limit to control a number of people owning guns. This is another biblical strategy, which can be adopted to help address the issue of guns in the society (Belloni et al., 2016) . Christians in fact, believe the use of guns can be solved when people give their lives to Christ. By this, they will be forced to behave in a manner, which restrains them from using the guns in committing crimes (Belloni et al., 2016) . Therefore, more efforts should be directed towards preaching to people so that they can give their lives to Christ. This will be the only solution, as the bible does not discourage the use of weapon against an individual.
Conclusion
Incidences of mass shooting are increasing in number and many people are falling victims of such. The shootings cause deaths to many while others sustain serious wounds. Therefore as Christians, there are verses contained in the bible that can act as sources of reference to make decisions on gun control. Most of the social problems that many people face in the present have solutions that can be sort from the bible. There are people who get involved in criminal activities since they have not found someone to speak to them and tell that what they are doing is wrong. Use of weapons is allowed but there are limitations, which have been set in the bible, and Christians need to give more light. Most killings, which occur in the society, are through use of guns and several families are under pain. Part of the Christians believes that gun control is part of the strategy that can be used to bring comfort to the families. The word of the Lord is very clear when it comes to underscoring a very controlled use of weapons. In Exodus 20:13, the bible says, “You must not murder.”
References
Belloni, A., Chernozhukov, V., Hansen, C., & Kozbur, D. (2016). Inference in high-dimensional panel models with an application to gun control. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics , 34 (4), 590-605.
New International Version Bible
Schrag, C. (2005). American Jews and Evangelical Christians: Anatomy of a Changing Relationship. Jewish Political Studies Review , 171-181.
Squires, P. (2012). Gun Culture Or Gun Control?: Firearms and Violence: Safety and Society . Routledge.
