The recent news cycles have been dominated by stories of deaths caused by the prevalence of guns in the U.S. streets. Whether they were in the hands of incompetent racist police officers, disgruntled former employees, mentally unstable, or struggling young people who were given bad counseling, these individuals with guns in their hands have ended many lives.
We have many who cling to the foolish idea that the Constitution permits them to have guns, but we have to remember that the Constitution is nothing more than a document that we can alter. As a matter of fact, amendments have been made from the beginning, and it should be clear to everyone that it is time that the 2nd amendment needs to go away.
The gun proponents have argued that having guns makes them feel safer, but it should be apparent to any reasonable person that we are not safe in the streets of this country. When the police stop you, guns in your car will not save you but actually will get you killed. The guns in the hands of the police, who believe they can shoot at will if they “feel” threatened, will leave you at the mercy of how secure the police officer “feels.” They do not need to prove that you actually were trying to kill them. They are released from all social responsibility and their job responsibility to “serve and protect” by simply saying that they “felt” threatened.
This has resulted in Daunte Wright getting killed at a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, MN, Adam Toledo in an alley in Chicago, George Floyd outside of a local market in Minneapolis, Steven Taylor shopping in Walmart in California, Briana Taylor sleeping in her own bed, Peyton Ham standing in his driveway, and countless more.
The real problem may be that of police having a gun. In England, Bobbies do not carry a gun but a baton, and they do not have all these outrageous cases of police shooting innocent civilians. Maybe it is time to disarm the police. Our problem may not be that we need more guns to make us feel safer, but perhaps the solution is to take the guns away from the police, then we may not have reasons to carry guns at all.
We need systemic change to solve our problem with police murder of civilians, and removing the power to kill may be the start to the real change.
Pastor Sunny
