Miserere Mei

I recently read, and heartily recommend, Shooting Back by Charl van Wyk. The author reflects on his own experience when the South African church he attended was attacked by men with guns and grenades. Van Wyk pulled out his handgun and shot back. The book addresses some important issues for Christians:

It deals with burning questions that plague all conscience-driven people:

• Should we carry arms?

• When is it appropriate to defend ourselves and our families?

• What can we do when our freedom to carry arms is legislated away from us?

Using the Bible as his guidepost, van Wyck makes the case that Christians not only have the right but the duty to defend themselves and other innocents from such aggression.

The issue of self-defense, and particularly self-defense against government tyranny, was addressed by the Founders of the United States when they wrote,

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

The security of a free state also depends upon men and women such as former Miss America Venus Ramey, who is 82 years old. Earlier this month, she stopped thieves in the commission of their crime by shooting out the tires of their truck. Three were arrested, thanks to her spunk and crime fighting.

And fighting crime with an armed citizenry truly works, if the town of Kennesaw, Georgia is any proof. Since instituting a law that requires every head of household to own a gun, the crime rate has gone down–and it began dropping immediately after the law was implemented. 25 years ago, before the law came about, the small town had a higher crime rate than the national average. Now, even with an increased population, the crime rate is still lower than before the ordinance was passed. Compare this to the town of Morton Grove, Illinois, a town which passed a gun ban just before Kennesaw’s law came about. The crime rate for Morton Grove has risen by 15.7 percent over the last 25 years while the population has dropped.