To Keep And Bear Arms: The Charleston Shooting

by Josh Casey, C&C Firearms
The oldest crime ever committed still has the ability to shock us to our core, to leave us wounded on such a deep level that the whole world seems to stop for a minute and reevaluate everything we thought we knew.  Thank God that it does, empathy and love are what make us human, but the questions remain.  What to do? Who to blame?  How do we prevent this in the future?

Unfortunately, an emotional response is almost automatic. How could it not be? You see such senseless violence and in a place of worship, of peace-- a place where a person should always be safe. Our emotions tell us that something must be done, something must be to blame and its easiest to look at the tool used. However, reason must win the day. Does anyone believe that a person willing to break multiple laws, illegal carry and even murder, would stop to reconsider his actions if he knew he might also be charged with illegally obtaining a gun? Do we really believe that people bent on destruction will simply abandon their plans because getting a gun is illegal? In an age when the very pots and pans we cook with are being turned into weapons of mass destruction, that evil will not find a way?

Emotion tells us we must do something......emotion is right. Let’s do something. Let stand up and label evil for what it is, it’s not terrorism, it’s not a hate crime. It is pure unadulterated evil and it must be opposed for what it is. Let’s restore personal accountability; this criminal is responsible for mass murder, but I have a feeling that he isn't the only one who should be held accountable. Children are not born with hatred in the heart; hatred must be taught and nurtured. Someone somewhere knows they helped influence this young man. Someone helped him believe that people different from him are less than him, and I hope that someone has a heavy heart tonight.