Why are there so many more “mass” shootings in the U.S.?
Well, of course it’s because there are so many more guns and they are readily accessible, right? !
Really?
That is certainly ONE factor. But is it the main factor?
The left would have us think that firearms somehow have some evil hold on people like Frodo’s ring. So based on that viewpoint, all we have to do is reduce the number of guns in the U.S. or eliminate them altogether, right?
Not so fast! (Gun Laws)
I’m not sure it is as simple as the weapon, itself. Sure, we’ve always had murders. It reaches all the way back to Cain and Abel and they didn’t have guns. We could look at the statistics (I have) of the weapons used to commit murder and we could assume that if we eliminated the weapon of choice, guns, then murders would be drastically reduced.
I propose there is another factor with far more reaching ramifications.
I propose that the most overlooked factor is the human heart.
Pastor John…people aren’t really that bad. People are basically good!
Actually, that is not what the scripture states. The heart is deceitful above all things; who can know it? (Jer. 17:9) Man is not basically good because man is fallen. James tells us,
“…each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (Jas. 1:14-15)
We don’t have a gun problem, hate problem, adultery problem, or even a promiscuity problem; we have a heart problem.
We have devalued human life and the importance of man’s relationship with his Creator to such a degree here in this country that is has darkened many hearts.
What did our society expect the void to be filled with? (Gun Laws)
After taking God out of our schools, and banning Him, in many places of our government, what did our society expect the void to be filled with? They expected more freedom and reaped more death, darkness and immorality. A “righteous” society cannot exist w/o a righteous God because w/o a righteous God, everyone does that which is right in their own eyes. I fear we have sown to the wind and are now reaping the whirlwind.
Before I surrendered my life to Jesus, I was a very angry young man! When I gave him my heart, that all changed.
Fast forward to now after being a Sr. Pastor for 37 years and serving as a Law Enforcement chaplain for over a decade and I’ve never had my firearm grip me or even attempt to grip me to contemplate murder. The main reason for mass shootings, or any other type of murder is not the trigger of the gun, or the hand on the knife, it is the condition of the heart.
Until our society figures that out, no amount of firearms confiscation or the passing of laws will change that. There are possibly over 130,000 laws in the U.S., but what we really need to do is to follow the perfect law of liberty.
John C. Adams