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Firearms
:
Constitutional or Biblical?By Ted R. Weiland
Authority
Few Americans are more strident about their constitutional rights,
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particularly the Second Amendmentguarantee to keep and bear arms, than are hunters and gun enthusiasts:
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people tokeep and bear arms shall not be infringed. (Amendment 2, United States Constitution)
Some of the most powerful Washington special-interest groups are the organizations (such as the NationalRifle Association and Gun Owners of America) formed to protect these rights. As a gun owner and hunter myself, I am very concerned about my “right” to keep and bear arms. However, as the Christian head of my home, I am much more concerned about my God-given responsibility to keep and bear arms for the protection of my family, home, and possessions. Consequently, I am
not 
a Second Amendment advocate.In fact, I believe Americans who tout the Second Amendment as their authority for their right to keep and bear arms may ultimately do more harm than good to their so-called right.Because this is a “right” protected by the Constitutional Republic, the Constitutional Republic cansomeday divest its citizens of this right – something it has been doing incrementally for some time.On June 26, 2008, in
 District of Columbia v. Heller 
, 554 U.S., the Supreme Court decided, five to four,that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own and bear firearms. Most gun ownerslauded the decision,
but not this gun owner.
Although I was pleased that the Supreme Court ruled as itdid, this battle (which is far from over) concerning the
Constitutional 
 
right 
to bear arms has diverted our attention from a larger and much more consequential battle.Most gun advocates have been well trained to consider gun ownership as a purely legal matter. However,a much more significant issue is being overlooked. Disconcerting as many people may find the erosion of the Second Amendment guarantee, it is even more disturbing that five men have the power to decidewhether United States citizens have the right to protect themselves and their families, to what degree, andwith what weapons. The Supreme Court essentially ruled that Americans have the right to bear arms,
but only until they say otherwise
.Many American’s who extolled this decision overlooked the fact that this decision can – and likely will –  be overturned by a future court, just as this decision overturned
United States v. Miller 
, 307 U.S. 174,rendered in 1939. If you look to the Second Amendment for your authority to bear arms, that authority iscontingent upon the fickle nature of nine fallible human beings.The right of United States citizens to bear arms is also in jeopardy by future amendment, which couldoverturn the Second Amendment. This was attempted on March 11, 1992, by Major Owens of New York,“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States repealing the Second Amendment tothe Constitution” (H. J. Res. 438). Do not forget that the well-regulated militia provided for by the SecondAmendment was, for all practical purposes, done away with long ago.If the responsibility to keep and bear arms is God-given, no one except Yahweh
2
Himself has the right towithdraw it. If you are a Christian
3
(and particularly if you are the head of your home), you were giventhe responsibility to keep and bear arms long before the United States Constitution was framed or ratified:
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; to executevengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains,
 
and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honour haveall his saints. Praise ye YH.
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(Psalm 149:6-9)
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The Second Amendment was not added to the Constitution on behalf of hunters and gun enthusiasts, butrather to deter tyrannous government and to protect individuals from such tyranny:
The importance of this article will scarcely be doubted by any persons who have duly reflectedupon the subject…. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against theusurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the firstinstance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.
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Why would Christian men need the Second Amendment to provide this entitlement when they alreadyhave Psalm 149 – unless, of course, they regard Yahweh as incompetent and His laws inept? To paraphrase Alphonso Bedoya in the movie
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
, “We don’t need no stinkin’Second Amendment!”
State Licensing
Why do Christian men think they need the state to sanction self-defense or any other God-givenresponsibility? This is a question that should be asked not only by gun owners, but also by anyoneseeking the state’s approval to be married and by preachers licensed by the government’s 501(c)(3) taxexempt incorporation status.What Yahweh ordained and commanded does not require the state’s permission or license. If Yahweh’scommands need to be licensed by the state, then Yahweh becomes subservient to the state.When the government requires a license, it does so to give legality to what otherwise, according to thesame government, is illegal. Since when did marriage, preaching the gospel, and self-defense becomeillegal?
Since the state chose to disregard Yahweh’s sanction of these activities and began licensing them.
Although the state is presently lenient with most who preach without government sanction, marry withouta license, and own firearms without permits, it may not always overlook these “transgressions.” Whenthis occurs, it will be imperative for Christian men to recognize that their authority to keep and bear armsdoes not come from the Constitution but from Yahweh.Of even greater significance is the Second Amendment’s usurpation of 
the power 
to grant the right to bear arms. A deity known as
WE THE PEOPLE
has commandeered this power, which belongs only toYahweh. Their decision to “legislate” and adjudicate what Yahweh has already made lawful is evidenceof this usurpation. This is not something new to our modern Congress and Supreme Court; this Pandora’sBox was opened in 1787.For Christian patriots to “hang their firearms hat” on the Second Amendment of the United StatesConstitution – as so many of them do – is an acknowledgement that
WE THE PEOPLE,
and not Yahweh,is their god and that the Constitution, and not the Bible, is their supreme law, as per Article 6.Christian Americans need to recognize that the real battle for our responsibility to bear arms is notcurrently being fought in Congress and the Supreme Court, but was, in fact,
lost 
in 1789 with theratification of the United States Constitution. Until Christians realize this, we will be forced to watch the2008 Supreme Court drama over and over again, with each and every decision determined by the prevailing “morality” of the then-standing Supreme Court’s deciding majority.
Firearms
:
Biblically Defended
 
Self 
-
Defense
Because most of today’s pulpits are filled with antinomian, pacifist, anti-gun pastors, the majority of today’s Christians are unaware that Yahweh has ordered His disciples to arm themselves. Consequently,Christian men have had to look to the Second Amendment for their authority to keep and bear arms. Hadthey been following the Apostle Paul’s instructions in 2 Timothy 2:15 (“Study to shew thyself approvedunto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”) instead of relying on such pastors, they would have found their authority in the Bible and not the U.S. Constitution.The question regarding firearms is one of self-defense. Does the Bible sanction self-defense?
If the thief is caught while breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account. But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on hisaccount. (Exodus 22:2-3, NASB)
The crime described in this passage is not theft, but burglary.
 Bouvier’s Law Dictionary
defines burglary:
The breaking and entering the house of another 
in the night
-
time
, with intent to commit a felonytherein, whether the felony be actually committed or not.
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Whereas theft is an Eighth Commandment(“Thou shalt not steal”) violation, burglary is aSixth  Commandment(“Thou shalt not kill”) andSeventh Commandment(“Thou shalt not commit adultery”) violation and is, therefore, a capital crime. Stealing is a crime punishable by restitution
except 
when athief is caught breaking into someone’s home under the concealment of darkness. Although not stated, theobvious reason for this distinction is the impossibility of determining an intruder’s intentions in the dark of night. Under such conditions, you cannot quickly ascertain whether the intruder is merely an unarmedthief or someone with a more malicious intent. During a night raid, Yahweh gives the benefit of the doubtto the homeowner and allows him, regardless the intruder’s intentions, to slay the intruder with immunity, just as if he were a known murderer (a Sixth Commandment violation) or rapist (a SeventhCommandment violation). In principle, the same would be true if the intruder’s intentions are dubiousduring daylight hours.Yahweh’s law clearly provides for self-defense as demonstrated in this statute. Because this statute is caselaw, it likewise vindicates a person who kills a daytime assailant.It might surprise some people to discover that Yeshua
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was a proponent of self-defense:
…if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he wouldhave been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. (Matthew 24:43, NASB)When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed;(Luke 11:21, NASB)
This last passage teaches that the better armed we are, the less likely someone is to steal from us or harmus and our families.Yeshua commanded His disciples to buy weapons:
Then said he unto them … he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. (Luke22:36)
Yeshua’s command agrees with Psalm 149:6-9. Note that Yeshua did not tell His disciples to register their swords with the government.
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