Gun Violence (2) Fear

Many people in America seem to be afraid and buy a gun for protection. One educated man brought a gun after a stranger visited his house and scared his wife (without doing harm). It seems that many Americans who are afraid think their best option is to buy a gun.

There are plenty of evil people in New Zealand, but people do not seem to be responding in the same way. It is not that they expect the government to protect them from these evil people.

There are plenty of places where I would not go, because nasty people live there, but I do not need to go to those places anyway. The only situation where we would meet with these people would be at work, when they are subdued, and often scared.

There are plenty of guns in New Zealand, but shootings tend to be limited to suicides, domestic violence, where a gun gives no protection, and warfare between gangs and their associates.

I grew up in the country. We lived a mile away from our nearest neighbours. The lock on the door of house was broken and could not be locked. My Dad had a 0.22 for shooting feral rabbits, but we never felt like we needed a gun to protect us from intruders.

I have never encountered an evil person face to face on my own. I don’t know many people who have. I have never been in a situation, where I felt like I needed a gun to protect me from evil people.

There are plenty of people here in New Zealand who are afraid. Their response is to put up a fence and buy a big dog. Very few would think about getting a gun to protect themselves.

I prefer to trust God. I believe that a big angel provides better protection of my home than a big dog or a big gun.

The best protection from evil people is to belong to a strong community of people committed to loving each other.

The fear of evil and the desire for guns as protection from it seems to be unique to the United States.