26/09/2025
AMERICA, TAKE BACK THE GUNS!
Charlie! You have been on everyone's lips for nearly two weeks. By your faith, though dead, you continue to speak and stir hearts, even more than you did while alive. Despite the revival your death has occasioned globally, more profound reflections on your assassination provoke me to charge the American government to review its gun policies.
I am writing not as an American citizen, but as a friend of America—one nurtured by her universities, enriched by her ideals, and inspired by her promise to be a beacon of liberty and justice for all nations. My love for the USA is genuine. It is the love of one who has tasted her generosity, admired her democratic spirit, and prayed for her continued greatness. And it is in that spirit of love that I raise my voice to plead with America: Take back the guns.
For decades, this great nation has prided itself on liberty. Yet liberty without responsibility becomes a snare. The unrestrained possession of guns by individuals has turned from a supposed guarantee of freedom into a machinery of death. Guns, designed to protect, have too often become instruments of assassination, mass shootings, and untold sorrow. How many more graves must be dug? How many more dreams must be cut short before America awakens to this truth?
Consider the blood-stained roll call of victims: President John F. Kennedy, struck down in Dallas; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., silenced in Memphis; Robert F. Kennedy, whose promise ended in Los Angeles. These were not obscure names; they were voices of vision, leaders of light. Yet the gun, so easily acquired, extinguished them. The very weapon celebrated in the name of liberty robbed a nation of its prophets of hope.
Even in recent years, America has not escaped gun threats. Former President Ronald Reagan was nearly killed by a gunman in 1981. In 2024, Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt—reminding the world once again that even the highest office and most powerful people in the land are not immune to the reckless availability of fi****ms. Sadly, countless ordinary lives are lost every day beyond the famous names.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, over 43,000 Americans died from gun-related incidents in 2023 alone. In the last century, millions have perished—fathers, mothers, children—lives that will never return.
Let us be clear: this is not just a political crisis. It is a moral and spiritual crisis. The Bible says in Exodus 20:13, "You shall not kill." Yet America's gun culture has normalized killing. Weapons meant for war are in the hands of teenagers, and rifles designed for battle are sold as toys. As a Christian and a friend of America, I must ask: where is the sanctity of life? Where is the reverence for God's image in humanity?
Some argue, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." But wisdom demands we ask: why make it so easy for people to kill? If a society gives free access to lethal tools, is it not complicit in the destruction they cause? If America can regulate medicines, automobiles, and even speech on public platforms, why not restrict weapons that can end dozens of lives in seconds?
The Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment at a time when muskets were the height of weaponry. They could scarcely have imagined AR-15 rifles, high-capacity magazines, and mass shootings in schools. To cling mindlessly to an 18th-century clause without adapting to the 21st-century reality is not patriotism; it is folly. Authentic fidelity to the Constitution means applying its principles wisely to protect the lives of citizens today.
I say this not to lecture America, but to appeal to her conscience. Because when America bleeds, the world notices. When America leads in violence, the world questions her moral authority. But when America chooses life, liberty, and responsibility, the world follows her example.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:23, "All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial." Yes, the law may permit gun ownership, but is it beneficial when children are gunned down in schools, when worshippers are massacred in churches, when concerts and movie theaters become war zones, when promising leaders are murdered in public gatherings, and millions thrown into mourning? Freedom must not become a license for destruction.
Let me offer a vision. Imagine an America where children walk to school without fear of gunfire, where political leaders can debate passionately without worrying about assassination. Where communities thrive in safety, and where liberty is defined not by the weapon in your hand but by the peace in your streets. That is the America I long for. That is America, which is worthy of her founding ideals.
To the lawmakers, I say: courage is needed. The courage to stand up to lobbyists, to defy partisan divides, and to legislate for life. To the citizens, I say: love your neighbor enough to lay down unnecessary arms. For what is liberty if it costs your neighbor's life?
In conclusion, I echo the words of Jesus in John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." America, choose life! Take back the guns—not because you are weak, but because you are strong enough to value life above weapons, peace above politics, and wisdom above reckless tradition.
I may not be American by citizenship, but I am American by heart. And from that heart I cry: America, the world is watching. Show us that your love of freedom is not a death sentence but a life-giving promise. Take back the guns, and let true freedom ring out.
Pastor E.
