Kids and Guns

I’ve been using guns of various type since I was eight or ten years old. My dad taught me how to hold, load, and shoot a gun, all while being diligently careful, and there were others who took me rabbit hunting, or just out to the woods for some “target practice.”  Years ago I did a little deer hunting (although hunting is all I have ever accomplished – I have never actually shot a deer). Now, I am often told (via the “media”) that guns are the problem in society, and we need to confiscate them, ban them, destroy them, and make sure no one has one – unless one is part of the Police State, obviously.

I have long said that it is not guns that are a problem – it is the exposure to violence (of any kind) that creates a mindset that guns are an answer to problems. Research confirms that – but who is listening? Certainly not those who make movies, or create incredibly violent “gaming” and such like. I have even begun to wonder about paintball.

Recognizing that ample research has already found that exposure to media violence can increase aggression, the research team from Ohio State University, VU (Vrije Universiteit) University Amsterdam in The Netherlands and the University of Pennsylvania decided to do the study to probe whether the presence of gun violence in films for young people could be influencing the spate of mass shootings as a result of the well-known “weapons effect,” first established in 1967. “It’s shocking how gun use has skyrocketed in movies that are often marketed directly at the teen audience,” said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University. (Washington AFP)

Here is a parallel.  According to our Pastor, if exposure to “media violence can increase aggression,” it holds true that “exposure to Truth can create Godliness and holy character.” I am all for getting our kids out in the woods, the meadows, the open lands of beauty which are available, and exposing them to the right and proper use of firearms. There may very well come a time when armed citizens will be required to sustain our viability as a Nation. Violent criminals should always be afraid that practicing their trade might very well get them wounded or killed by good men and women protecting themselves and others. And, there is no question in my mind that getting our kids into Church and Godly activities, exposing them to the Truth of God’s Word, and utilizing the Scriptures as the path for leading them to God’s redeeming llove, will reduce and ultimately dispose of aggression and violence as each individual, under the tutelage and leadership of the Spirit, becomes conformed to the image of the Savior.

But then, that’s just me.