Should Christians support gun ownership?
Question 67 in Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded
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The ownership of weapons is a particular kind of property right that is also derived from the right to self-defense. The right of self-defense flows from the biblical command to protect innocent life. Scripture affirms that life is a sacred gift from God, and that to stand by while violence destroys it is itself a moral failure. Proverbs 24:11 urges us to “rescue those being taken away to death,” and Exodus 22:2 allows for defense of one’s household from violent intrusion. The consistent moral principle is that force may be used to stop aggression—not to take vengeance or assert dominance, but to preserve life made in God’s image.
Christians abhor aggression, but recognize that firearms are tools which, when justly used, can help believers prevent or stop aggression. The modern push for sweeping gun control, while allegedly motivated by compassion, misunderstands both morality and economics. Criminals ignore gun laws, while peaceful citizens bear the cost of compliance—not only the cost imposed by the state, but the cost imposed by crimes that might otherwise be mitigated even by merely bearing a holstered side arm. Additionally, every prohibition must ultimately be enforced by armed agents of the state—meaning that gun control depends on violence to suppress non-violent ownership. Such measures betray the alleged compassion for peaceful people that gun control proponents claim to advocate for.
History shows that gun confiscation has often paved the way for tyranny. The British disarmed the Irish to maintain control, the U.S. government disarmed Africans and Native peoples to subdue them, and regimes like the Soviet Union, Communist China, and the Khmer Rouge confiscated weapons to secure total power. Each instance left populations defenseless against State violence. In contrast, a society that respects the right to self-defense discourages both personal and political aggression. Christians who value peace must also value liberty, recognizing that a well-armed and virtuous people are among the strongest deterrents to tyranny and the surest guardians of human dignity.