The old "law of Moses" the pre-Christian Jews followed was a complete blueprint for running a government on earth, under God's principles. While it was over-ridden by Christian principles later, it's a pretty good "guide to God's general views".
(That view of the Old Testament is nearly universal among all Christian churches.)
The Law of Moses contained a welfare code, health and safety law including the need for quarantine under some circumstances, a criminal justice system, tax codes, even a very good set of animal welfare rules. And lots more.
Guess what was missing?
Gun control, or anything remotely like it.
They had knives, swords, archery, heavy slingshots capable of firing 1lb or more projectiles, spears, lots more. There were NO rules on who could carry them, weapons restrictions zones, age limits, limits on alien residents owning or carrying hardware, etc. Not one WORD on the subject.
There's lots of nasty stories and moral guides about *misuse* of weapons, but there's almost as many examples of people killing (when necessary) with God's full support. Including at least two assassinations, one with a custom dagger in a crossdraw southpaw sheath. See also:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jkmtsm/eglon.html
James Mattis has written more on the subject, from an old testament/Talmudic point of view. He's Jewish, but distinctly unimpressed with Lieberman
. See also:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jkmtsm/history.html
When Jesus was being placed under arrest, one of his people got over-eager and lopped the ear off a Roman soldier. While fixing the guy's ear, he made it clear that violence wasn't the answer in this situation...but he had no negative comments for his disciple's sword *carry*, matching the Old Testament principles.
My personal defensive weapons saved a stranger's life once - I was placed in the situation of the theoretical good Samaritan above, who shows up while the attack was going on. I made a tactical mistake (didn't watch their hands carefully enough) but by taking them by surprise, they were off-balance enough not to use their weapons (hammers) while I was in range. I don't regret my overall actions and had I not intervened, I'd have a hard time facing myself in the mirror to this day.
The main thing I'd warn any Christian self defense proponent about is "bezerker rage" mental states, driven by rage or hate. That's not only unhealthy, it's a good way to get killed in a gunfight, and it risks innocent bystanders. A state where you go "emotionally flat" and "high speed tactical" is better, where you're still in control of your own head. This state can be driven by care for your fellow man, or even love...over 3,000 years ago, the Greek Hoplites trained to fight with teamwork and "cover your neighbor" tactics, and specifically didn't like people who entered "rage states" on the battlefield. Their view was "the opposite of fear is love" - by emphasising teamwork, they were trying to field armies with people who cared about each other and would repeatedly save each other's butts, and in many cases hold off from panicked retreat so as to prevent loss of life on their side.
In other words, I feel that weapons carry without rage or hate, with a goal towards preserving innocent life, is completely within Christian principles.
Jim
