Would Jesus Pack Heat? Is Gun Control a God Issue?

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The tragic shooting at the Dark Knight showing in Colorado is promoting social media debates over where God would stand on gun control. Is it a pro-life issue?

To the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who calls himself "pro-life across the board," it obviously is.
Within hours of posting that view on social media Friday morning, Martin had to shut down comments on his Facebook page and cut off trading tweets on the topic. It got too hot.
Though most posters echoed his plea for prayers for all victims of violence, several sharply disagreed on gun control. Many repeated that guns don't kill, people do. Several argued as Sandra Canosa who posted:

Crazy people and criminals will always find a way to obtain weapons. Law abiding citizens are the only ones who will be impacted by gun control laws, inhibiting our right to bear arms and defend ourselves against all enemies foreign and domestic. Too bad a responsible gun owner was not packing in that theatre...

Elizabeth Andrew posted:

There are key points that need to be made distinct: First, taking a gun and shooting up a movie theater is NOT LEGAL. Contrast with the fact that abortion IS LEGAL. This distinction is one of the reasons why the pro-life movement concentrates on abortion. …

Sarah Jancosek Torff countered:

I remember Joseph Cardinal Bernadin from Chicago. He drew a lot of criticism--- from Catholics -- for his "seamless garment" approach to ethics. He said you can't be "pro life" and pro-war, pro-gun, pro-violence. It is all of a piece. It is the only anti-abortion position I ever had deep respect for.

Martin echoes that. He says that although the Catholic Church's position on gun control is not as publicly known as its stance against abortion, it's all about opposing the taking of human life.
Martin says:

I am pro-life across the board. I'm against abortion. But I don't think it's antithetical to being for gun control. They are two sides of the same coin. How can people get so worked about one and not the other?
It's similar to people who procure abortions, and we can regulate and legislate abortions. Why can't we regulate guns? Can't it be made more difficult in both cases to enable people to take those actions?

Jasmine Rivera suggested:

We should think about if Jesus would have wanted a society where everyone had a gun or a society where no one had guns.

Robert Jones at the Public Religion Research Institute looked at a religion breakdown of 2011 ABC News/Washington Post survey question on views on gun control.
When asked if they favored or opposed stricter gun control laws, the most support for stricter laws came from black Protestants (71%) Catholics (59%) and the unaffiliated (55%). But solid opposition was expressed by white evangelical Protestants (60% ). Only mainline Protestants were more divided (47% favor, 51% oppose).

But, Jones notes, a second question asked whether the best way to reduce gun violence is by "passing stricter gun control laws or by stricter enforcement of existing laws?" Says Jones,

What's interesting is that there is more consensus that current gun laws need to be better enforced, that more laws by themselves aren't necessarily going to solve the gun violence problem.

That was the choice for 69% of white evangelicals, 60% of mainline Protestants, 41% of black Protestants, 58% of Catholics and 51% of the unaffiliated.

DO YOU THINK … your faith should guide your view on gun control?