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Gun Control Isn't Needed, Criminal Control Is

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It seems lately that so many publications with the word “Christian” in the name have been on a gun control push lately. It’s kind of creepy, actually, especially since so many evangelicals identify as pro-Second Amendment.

Frankly, there’s nothing particularly Christian about gun control. Even Christ himself told his followers to arm themselves, for crying out loud. Yet we keep seeing the anti-gun narrative expressed in Christian outlets.

I mention that because, well, it’s nice to see the other side presented.

The reasons for the carnage are longstanding and multifaceted, such as broken families and no discipline in public schools. However, New Orleans also has a dysfunctional criminal justice system. The recently elected Orleans Parish District Attorney was financially supported by George Soros and believes in a much more lenient approach to dealing with criminals than his tough-on-crime predecessor. Also, the criminal court judges are notoriously lax in handling juvenile offenders, who comprise a major percentage of these violent offenses.

Just like many cities across the country, New Orleans suffers from a massive shortage of police officers. In New Orleans, there has been a shortage of police officers for many years.

Currently, the city has about 1,150 police officers, but to adequately provide safety to citizens and tourists alike, law enforcement experts contend there need to be approximately 1,600 officers.

In this respect, New Orleans is like many other cities led by Democrats. Statistics show that crime is exploding in all these areas. While the soft-on-crime approach was a problem for many years, the riots of 2020 truly accelerated the crisis in urban America.

In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, crime in cities across the country erupted. Along with riots and looting, there were irresponsible calls to defund the police. With police being targeted by Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters, more officers decided to retire. At the same time, it became much more difficult to recruit new police officers to join departments under siege.

Throughout the country, cities with Democratic leadership are seeing a tremendous increase in crime in 2021. While President Biden and congressional Democrats like to blame “guns,” the real problem is that there are too many criminals on the streets. Cities across America do not need gun control, instead, what is really needed is criminal control.

This is at a site called the Christian Post. It’s a nice change of pace.

Of course, the writer, Jeff Crouere, is right. The problem is and has always been with criminals. You need to take them out of the equation somehow, some way. Part of that is with law enforcement intervention. Another part of that is with armed citizens in a position to react to violent crime, you may find plenty of intervention there.

Couple those with programs that try to prevent people from becoming criminals or providing criminals with another path, and you get an all-around win.

But that’s not what we’re seeing. Anti-Second Amendment activists have tried to disarm the American people while hamstringing police and putting more and more criminals back on the streets just minutes after their arrest. It’s a recipe for disaster to anyone who takes half a second to think about it.

It’s not un-Christian to recognize that some people are broken and deserve punishment. Yes, we Christians are taught to forgive, but we also have to face the reality that bad people will do bad things. Good and evil exist, after all, and while Christ said to turn the other cheek, he didn’t mean we should accept every criminal slight as if it’s nothing. Far from it.

As such, it’s good to see at least some Christian media recognizing that reality.