I’ve only two more topics in this controversial series that I plan to address. If you have an issue of our day that seems to be ruled by radical views on either side, and I have not yet addressed it, please either leave a comment to this blog or send me an e-mail at healthyrhythmslc@gmail.com and I will do my best to address how we can live in the tension of the middle on that issue.

Today, I want to address the issue of gun control vs. gun rights. There are many rational voices on this topic, but progress is thwarted by the two opposing radical views. On the one hand, any step toward gun control is seen as merely a first step toward the infamous “they” coming to “take our guns”. On the other hand, anyone that owns a gun is vilified and considered complicit in the all-too-often mass shootings that end many lives and forever alter many others.

What drives the opinions of those on both ends of the spectrum? I see the two primary drivers as living in fear and living based on “my” rights.

Fear-based living drives some to gun ownership for self-protection (& family) and to guard against the eventuality that their own government – after taking away their guns – will oppress them. At the other extreme, fear drives people to see anyone who owns a gun as a threat to their life or at least to the lives of innocent people.

Rights-based living drives some to push back against any control exerted against personal freedom, seeing it as a slippery slope. For others, rights-based living drives them to turn to the government to ensure that others cannot harm them against their will.

I mentioned that there are many rational voices on this topic. I believe it is time to sit down, take a breath, and listen to these voices so that we can find the tension in the middle of this issue. This posture will allow us to examine our personal responsibility as it regards the issue of gun ownership in our country. In turn, we can allow progress toward a safer environment. Not perfectly safe, but safer.

When I was growing up, my dad taught me to shoot a rifle and shotgun. I did a little hunting, but I am not an outdoorsman, and the sport of hunting is not something I enjoy. However, if you enjoy hunting, I am not in the least offended by that. The tools of that sport should be yours to responsibly own.

I hear the rational voices saying that assault rifles and handguns are not tools needed for the sport of hunting. Assault rifles are weapons of war & mass murder, and handguns are technically only required to threaten, assault, or kill humans. Because I do not hunt, I do not own a gun. I do not intend to threaten, assault, or kill another human being even in self-defense.

I have heard it stated by those with a radical view on this issue that terrorists and home invaders need to meet their Maker, “and it’s my job to introduce them”. I could not agree more. However, that introduction will not be face-to-face because I’ve taken their life. It will be heart-to-heart because I am telling them about their Maker, hopefully in a way that has not been tried before. I already know my Maker and when my time here is over, my face-to-face encounter will be while falling into His open arms. In that view, I am free and at peace to consider my own life as less important than that of another.