A recent national poll survey sheet that came to my desk presented the statistics of gun violence, and then in large, bold letters asked the question:

        Do you favor more effective gun control laws? Yes or No?

        Probably nine out of ten who answered this question voted "yes", and then the proponents of more gun control broadcast the news that 90 percent of all Americans favored more and stronger gun control laws. On the surface it would seem that most Christians are for more effective gun control laws because, after all, in God's prophetic program there is promised a time when there will be no guns:

        The crime rather than the method is the real reason for murder and violence:

        One day in November in Oklahoma City a jealous man cut a woman's throat and the throat of her male accomplice. The man survived, the woman died. She was eight months pregnant. The unborn child was delivered by C-section and lived. Twelve hours later, within one-quarter mile of my home, a fifteen-year-old teenager shot a twenty-five-year old female clerk at a convenience store that I often visited. She and her husband, who were both immigrants, tried to eke out a living at this small business. She was a lovely intelligent lady. She lingered in the hospital for a few days and then died. The motive in one crime was jealous lust; the motive in the other crime was greed, taking a life to get a few dollars. The weapon in one crime was a knife; the weapon in the other crime was a gun. The results were the same: death and grief and sorrow for family members left behind.

        I am not trying to convey the thought that there are just as many killed today with knives as there are guns. Today, guns are the weapon of choice because they subject the criminal or assailant to less retributive danger. But if all guns were taken out of circulation, men would resort to other weapons. In the greatest terrorist crime committed on United State's soil, the weapon of choice was fertilizer - the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in April, 1995. On the Internet anyone can obtain information about how to make guns, bombs, poisons, or even nuclear devices.

        According to the Bible, the first murder was committed when Cain killed his brother, Abel. We are not told the weapon of choice in that crime. It could have been a hoe, a scythe, or a club. It is highly unlikely that it was a Colt 45. In Genesis 6 we read that in the Antediluvian age, violence filled the entire human race. It is also highly unlikely that there were very many handguns, rifles, or AK-47s before the flood.

        Guns, howitzers, planes, tanks, and bombs are effective weapons of modern warfare, but they have not increased proportionally the number of soldiers killed in battle. Hannible killed one hundred thousand Romans with swords, spears, bows and arrows, and thirty-seven elephants before becoming bogged down in central Italy. When Alexander crossed over into Asia Minor, history records that approximately one million Persian soldiers died in that war. In Second Chronicles 14 we read that in the days of King Asa an army of one million Ethiopians invaded Israel, and the army of Judah killed most of them. When armies composed of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, charge into battle with swords, spears, and mauls, somebody is going to get hurt. The invention of gun powder only changed methods and proximity. President Kennedy was assassinated by an assailant using a gun. Julius Caesar was assassinated by assailants using knives. Poisons have also been the weapon of choice in getting rid of the unwanted.

        Gun control advocates center their emotional appeal for firearm registration and/or abolition on the increasing use of guns in school deaths and attacks. It is certainly true that the use of guns by angry or mentally unstable students against teachers and fellow students are increasing. However, other weapons used in school incidents like knives, clubs, or other weapons, will probably outnumber such attacks by guns at least one hundred times. Nevertheless, the use of guns or any other weapons in school violence is tragic and cannot be tolerated. However, the number of students killed by guns on school properties for the past decade will probably not average over ten per year, even considering the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Had the two boys guilty of the Columbine incident been able to detonate the bombs they planted, hundreds would have been killed. Such angry and mentally disturbed students can use more deadly weapons than guns. It is also true that several hundred children are killed every year by playing with a gun in the home, but this is the fault of the parents and not of the firearms. In Israel teenage boys and girls in the army are in evidence by the thousands in that nation, walking crowded streets carrying rifles and machine guns over their shoulders. Guns are kept in the home in Israel, and the same is true for Switzerland. In both countries the use of firearms in criminal incidents, or accidents, is minimal, if not practically nonexistent, proving education and moral restraint - not laws - are the answer.

        However, if the saving of young lives is a motivation for passing more gun control laws, let us consider the following statistics from the National Safety Council as carried in the 1999 World Almanac:

        AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS:  In 1997 (the latest year that statistics were reported) there were 43,200 Americans killed in automobile accidents. It is commonly reported that one-half of the automobile accidents are alcohol and drug related. Children and teenagers ride in cars as well as adults. It is reasonable to assume that one-third of all accidental automobile deaths are in the age bracket of one month to eighteen years. This means that approximately 15,000 children and teenagers are killed each year in such accidents. How to save these lives? Pass a law abolishing alcohol; pass a law abolishing all automobiles; pass a law making it illegal for anyone under twenty years of age to ride in a car; pass a law limiting the speed limit to 15 miles per hour.

        FALLING:  In 1997 14,900 Americans met their death by falling. A large percentage of such accidental deaths were doubtless children falling from tables, windows, trees, cribs, etc. It is reasonable that approximately one-third of falling accidental deaths were in the child or teenage bracket. How to save these 5,000 deaths of minors? Pass a law restricting houses to one story; pass a law making ladders illegal; pass a law that all chairs, tables, desks, and beds be no higher than one foot off the floor or ground.

        POISONS:  In 1997 9,300 Americans were killed by poisoning (accidental or on purpose). Because children are apt to plunder kitchen or bathroom closets, it is reasonable that one-third of the poisoning deaths were children or teenagers. We could save another 3,000 deaths of minors by passing laws to abolish all cleansing liquids, rat or roach poisons, paints and thinners, etc.

        DROWNING:  In 1997 4,000 Americans drowned. Probably half of these were children who drowned in backyard swimming pools, or ventured out in deep water before being able to swim. How to save another 2,000 lives of minors? Ban all swimming pools and make the sport of swimming illegal.

        CHOKING:  In 1997 3,300 American choked to death on food. It is reasonable to assume that at least half of those who choked to death were children. One of the main items of food that children choke on are wieners, or hot dogs. While we hear much about getting rid of dangerous guns, we hear little or nothing about getting rid of dangerous hot dogs. The answer to saving another 1,500 lives of minors who choke to death every year? Pass a law that no food may be served in America except mashed potatoes.

        FIREARMS:  How many Americans were accidentally killed by firearms in 1997? The National Safety Council says 1,500. That's approximately one percent of all accidental deaths.

        TOTAL DEATHS BY FIREARMS: The latest statistics for fatalities by firearms in the U.S.A. by the National Safety Council was in 1995, the reason not stated. Nevertheless, in 1995 there were:

        Almost every federal agency, including the ATF, CIA, and FBI, advocate new gun ownership restrictions, if not total abolition. Many national corporations like Sara Lee, CNN, B'nai B'rith, and hundreds of others contribute to gun control efforts. Movie stars Tom and Rita Hanks have contributed one million dollars to the campaigns of those in Congress who promote gun control. Other actors, actresses, and television personalities who support gun control are Willard Scott, Mary Tyler Moore, Ted Turner, Jane Fonda, Ed Asner, Barbara Streisand, and Sylvester Stallone. It is amazing that Sylvester Stallone favors restrictive gun legislation when he has killed a couple of million people in his movies. These are the super-rich who have no identity with, or affinity for, the middle class, the working class, or Christians. They identify with Ted Turner who has publicly stated that Christians are losers. Most movie stars try to promote themselves through alignment with causes like "Gay Pride Week", "Be Kind to Ax-Murderers", or "Save the Grasshoppers". These poor billionaire souls do not realize that when their New World Order arrives and establishes a gunless society, they will be the first to be liquidated.

        Of course, another famous gun control advocate was King George III of England. He issued an edict for all colonists in America to be disarmed. Had he been successful, the United States would still be a colony of England. I have been to China a number of times. The founder of the present governmental system in China, one of the most dictatorial and oppressive in the world, was Mao Tse-tung. Mao's philosophy was: "Political power comes from the end of a gun." The Chinese population was disarmed after 1949, and today not even the police are allowed to carry firearms. I have been to Cuba recently, and no private citizen of Cuba can own a gun. Castro's own private army are the only ones who carry guns. Castro owns fifty-seven estates and is listed among the fifteen richest men in the world, yet workers in Cuba get eight dollars a month, and husbands prostitute their wives in order to get enough money to feed their children. I have been to other nations governed by cruel dictatorships and, without exception, only the trusted protectors of the dictator have guns. This is why citizenry disarmament through step-gun-control legislation concerns me.

        This past month I heard my own district congressman, Ernest Istook, on C-Span. He stated that he had been approached by a prominent administration bureaucrat about supporting legislation concerning marijuana for medical purposes. The bureaucrat was representing President Clinton, so Congressman Istook said he asked the man why such legislation was needed since anyone needing the drugs in marijuana for medical reasons could get a prescription for the same drugs in tablet or capsule form. The response from the administration spokesman was that this was just the initial step in eventually getting all drugs legalized in all fifty states. It is interesting that seven states have now legalized marijuana for so-called medical reasons.

        The first gun control act was the National Firearms Act of 1934 pushed by the Franklin Roosevelt administration. This legislation was followed by the Federal Firearms Act of 1938. Next was the 1968 Firearms Act; then the 1986 Firearms Owners Protection Act; then the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993. The Brady Bill has been amended several times by new restrictions like the NICS addition: step-by-step-by-step. There have been good reasons presented for the passing of all so-called gun control legislation but, as already noted, there are also good reasons for laws abolishing step ladders, automobiles, baby cribs, and hot dogs.

        According to a December 20, 1999, TIME report titled, "U.S. to Develop a System for Finger-printing Guns", the Clinton administration plans to spend twenty-three million dollars initially to install markings in every individual gun so that any shell casing or bullet fired from a gun can be traced to a registered owner. The article further states that President Clinton is pushing new gun control legislation before he is scheduled to leave office in early 2001. We would personally conclude that President Clinton would have had more effect on crime and the general moral climate in the United States had he himself set a better moral example.

        Articles in our files from England, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, indicate bitter disappointment with gun control legislation in those countries. A survey in Australia showed that citizens with registered firearms committed only one-half of one percent of the crimes, while those with unregistered firearms committed 99.5 percent of the crimes. Yet, confiscation of registered firearms in these countries has proceeded. This also was in opposition to a survey report by the Third International Crime Victimization Survey of October 14, 1999, showing that "crimes of all sorts, including murder, are the lowest in those states with the highest rates of gun ownership".

        While England and Wales have strict gun control laws, these two countries have the highest rates of violent crime in the industrialized world. Burglaries in Canada are more than four times as likely to occur when the residents are at home as they are in the United States. The report continues to prove without question that in states where private citizen's gun ownership is high, crime against both person and property is lower.

        There is much to be said for private gun registration, but it also has dangerous side effects. Law abiding citizens register their firearms; criminals and terrorists do not. In China the majority of Christians do not attend the government-approved church (the Three-Self Church) because their membership is registered, as well as is Bible ownership. Those Christians in China who attend the home church (the underground church), and those who worship privately, know that Christians whose names are registered with the government can be liquidated within a twenty-four-hour period. It happened in the Cultural Revolution between 1965 and 1975. We do not say this will happen to gun registrants in the United States, but the examples in China, Cuba, and other dictatorial governments in the world should serve as an alert.

        Lord Justice William Blackstone, perhaps the most historic authority on the legal and Divine rights of man, stated in 1770:

        We quote from the closing statements of this extensive document:

        To give up all weapons for dependence on a world government to provide safety, security, and justice, is insanity. The so-called gun control issue reaches far beyond individual rights. The beating of swords and spears into plowshares and pruninghooks is not going to happen until the Lord Jesus Christ reigns as King of Kings over all nations.

        But can we do anything to reduce gun violence? We can start by putting the Bible back in our schools, limiting immigration from violent or non-Christian societies, strengthening capital punishment for murder, and stressing personal guilt and responsibility rather than blaming the weapon or method. If we as Americans repent and call out to God to heal our land, He will hear us. (2 Chron. 7:14)