Searching for common ground on guns

Thank God there weren’t any Mass Shootings across America this past weekend after the devastation that happened in El Paso and Dayton the previous weekend.  However according to data from the Center for Disease Control, 109 people die from gun violence in the United States every day.  Add up those numbers and a person will realize that the number of people who died this past weekend from gun violence exceeded the number of people who died in the Mass Shootings in El Paso and Dayton.

My ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ.  So I’m always trying to discern the mind of Christ when it comes to any issue.  I don’t think it is a hard thing to say that if Jesus Christ came into the world today he would say that the United States needs to lessen the number of people who die from gun violence.

I don’t know what the answers are to these problems.  What I do know is we have to find common ground on the issues of gun violence. I’m not going to demonize the National Rifle Association or anyone who believes in the strictest gun control.  I’m going to listen to them and try to understand their perspective.  And then I’m going to try to find common ground.

I’ve read all sorts of helpful articles in the past week about gun violence.  Jillian Peterson and James Densley wrote an article about four commonalities of mass shooters.  http://www.startribune.com/our-data-unveiled-four-commonalities-of-mass-shooters/528626052/

The Star Tribune ran a front-page article yesterday about assault weapons.  http://www.startribune.com/modern-gun-or-weapon-of-war-carnage-heightens-scrutiny-of-popular-widely-available-assault-rifles/533008662/

I even went back to listen to a sermon that Adam Hamilton gave on guns three years ago.

https://cor.org/leawood/sermon-series/facing-issues-that-divide#d/sermon/1937/cor_l

The issue of gun violence has reached such an epidemic that I encourage everyone to listen carefully to any suggestion. 

So if we need to have better red-flag laws, let’s investigate that;

If we need better regulation of assault weapons, let’s investigate that;

If we need better resources for mental health, let’s investigate that;

If we need better research on violence in our world including the effect of video games, let’s investigate that.

Let’s investigate everything.

And then let’s tamper down the rhetoric and work hard to find common ground. Reducing gun violence is not going to happen through Social Media posts; it won’t happen by people demonizing folks who have different views.  It will happen through prayerful discernment, careful listening, intelligent decisions, and a persistent commitment to change. 

And it will happen when all of us search for common ground.

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