walrus51

Gov. Ron & Smiling White Men Out of the Sunshine

In a private ceremony in Tallahassee on April 3, 2023, this small group of villainous reprobates gathered in private to celebrate the signing of a new law which allows permitless concealed carry of firearms in Florida.

Some have said this new law will enable more Florida residents to carry their hidden weapons into schools, grocery stores, office buildings, libraries, shopping malls, houses of worship, and on the streets and parking lots in your town, in your neighborhood, wherever people gather.

One Florida lawmaker said,

“In the State of Florida, government bureaucracy will no longer stand between law-abiding Floridians and their freedom to exercise their 2^nd amendment rights.

This bill recognizes that while the government has a duty to protect its citizens, its citizens have a right to protect themselves.”

Although many gun rights advocates are ready, willing and able to interpret and quote the 2^nd amendment, they seem to have lost their ability to recall the Gospel of John:

“Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this:  When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.  But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning.  The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.  Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them.  So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.  So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil.  Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.” [1 John 3: 7-10]

I am a strong believer of separation of Church and State, so I quote the Christian Bible just for reference.

My limited research led me to believe each of the major religions of our world generally takes a dim view of people bearing arms in a civilized society.

Based on survey data obtained from 60,000 respondents in 2018, researchers at Eastern Illinois University determined that 87% of American adults with an identified religious affiliation favor more restrictive gun control laws, led by Hindu (96%); Buddhist (96%); Atheist (94%); Jewish (94%); Agnostic (94%); Catholic (91%); Mainline Protestant (90%); Muslim (87%); and Mormon (86%)[i].

Of course, there are some outliers[ii].

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[i] Data from the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), a national survey with 60,000 respondents. Analysis led by Dr. Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University.

[ii] Dr. Jenny Wiley Legath, the Associate Director of the Center for Culture, Society and Religion at Princeton University, has developed some research pertaining to carrying concealed weapons as a “religious practice” for some Americans, particularly white evangelical and Pentecostal Christians.