Alas, there is a need for self-defense
In his recent Fence Post letter (Armed society not a Christian society), Tom Teune makes several clearly illogical and indefensible claims.
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First, he said the framers of the Constitution intended to form a strong central government. That statement is not supported by history.
The framers were scared to death of a strong central government; they had just revolted against one. That's the reason we have the 10th Amendment which restricts the government's power only to those enumerated in the Constitution.
Second, he compares gun death rates in various countries. It's easy to pick a few countries and then draw overly broad conclusions. It's also simplistic and misleading. Many countries with higher gun ownership enjoy lower crime rates than the ones Mr. Teune mentioned. There are factors besides gun ownership that affect violent crime, but I don't have the room to discuss them here. It suffices to say that FBI statistics have conclusively shown that as gun ownership has reached its highest level in our history, the violent crime rate has reached its lowest.
Third, he says, "remove the guns and the bad guys cannot kill." That claim has also been conclusively disproved time and time again by unbiased statistics. My favorite is from the CDC: non-firearm methods are used for 46 percent more homicides per year than firearms.
Finally, Mr. Teune laments that being armed is not a characteristic of a Christian society. If we lived in a Christian society, everyone would love his neighbor as himself and there would be no need for self-defense. Unfortunately we do not live in that world, and until we do there is no tool that I won't use to defend myself and my family if necessary.
Tyler Benjamin
West Chicago
