Photo credit: Kalhh | CC0.

Introduction

These resources explore moral and ethical challenges related to gun rights and responsibilities, and the frameworks within which people see these issues.

Other Resources on Christian Faith, Self-Defense, and Violence

James Fallows, Back to Guns: Kant vs. Saint Augustine. The Atlantic, Jan 4, 2013.

Secular Talk, Pro-Life Evangelical Pastor Pushes for Gun Control. Secular Talk, Oct 24, 2015.

Mark Gomez, San Jose: Boy, 9, Shot While in Bed After Upstairs Neighbor Shoots Himself in Foot. San Jose Mercury News, Oct 28, 2015.

Abigail E. Disney and Kathleen Hughes, Would Jesus Wear a Sidearm? New York Times, Oct 30, 2015.

Adelle M. Banks, Anti-Abortion Activist Rob Schenck Now Opposed to Christians Owning Guns. Sojourners, Oct 30, 2015.

John Piper, Why I Disagree with Jerry Falwell, Jr. on Christians and Guns. Washington Post, Dec 23, 2015. Although disagreeing is Doug Wilson, John Piper and Guns. Blog and Mablog, Dec 23, 2015. Rebutted by Benjamin Corey, Why Exodus 22:2 Doesn’t Work To Justify Armed Self-Defense. Patheos, Jan 15, 2016.

Kate Shellnut, Not an Act of God: Ministries Respond to Surge in Mass Shootings. Christianity Today, Feb 15, 2018.

Kate Shellnut, Pew: White Evangelicals Want Stricter Gun Laws Too. Christianity Today, Feb 26, 2018.

Phil Zuckerman, Mike Huckabee Ties Mass Shootings to a Lack of Faith in God. Social Science Proves Him Wrong. Los Angeles Times, Aug 11, 2019. Huckabee provides an embarrassing example of some white evangelical flimsy reasoning or attempts to be relevant.

Obery Hendricks, Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith. Beacon Press | Amazon page, Jul 2021. Black theologian Obery Hendricks cogently critiques the unholy alliances between white evangelicals and the NRA, the modern antiabortion platform, big business and antilabor, and others. Chapter 7, on the NRA, is excellent.

Tish Harrison Warren, What Should Christians Do About Guns? New York Times, Apr 23, 2023. “Restrictions on the types of guns that can be sold (such as banning AR-15-style weapons), requirements of licensing, insurance and safety courses for gun ownership (as we do with driver’s licenses and vehicles), universal background checks, red flag laws, storage requirements and stricter age limits for gun ownership. We need to make it harder to get guns, which makes it easier to ensure guns stay in trustworthy hands.”