March 1st, 2009, 07:54 PM
The Bible advises to turn the other cheek. So how do these God-fearing Americans square carrying firearms with their religion?
Jamie and Anna Nabakowski, both 22
Bartlett, Tennessee
Jamie: We're both nondenominational Christians and we're both students. We've been married for just over a year and live at my parents' house. We have three guns - a Smith & Wesson pistol, a Browning shotgun and a Savage .22 rifle.
I usually go to the gun range a couple of times a month. It's kind of expensive, but I like to take Anna to the range for Date Night on Fridays, it's a lot of fun. The rifle's for duck hunting. Unfortunately, in a place like we live, you just never know.
When we have children, we'll teach them to respect firearms. We call them firearms and not guns with kids - they have a fear of fire from a very young age.
I don't think banning guns would prevent things like the campus shootings. Those people would have guns even if they were illegal. Here in the United States, we live in a gun culture.
The Bible says that if somebody strikes you, you must turn the other cheek. However, the protection of your loved ones and your home is the responsibility of the individual.
Jamie Tyson, 37
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm a Methodist. It's like a cool Baptist. We use the King James Bible.
I own a Colt ACP .45 calibre single-action. I don't leave the house without it. I don't go to my parents' house next door without it. I refuse to be a victim. I had three incidents; one was a carjacking, the other two were armed robberies. The third time was when I'd had enough. It was at a garage sale in broad daylight. I noticed there was a guy riding by on a bicycle. I was bent down looking at something and he came up behind me and put the gun at my back and said, "Give me the purse, bitch." I grabbed my purse as hard as I could and just took off.
If I'd had my gun on me the second time I was held up, I would for sure have killed the guy that had the gun and probably the two guys beside him. If it's at a crowded place - like at the garage sale - I don't know if I could have taken that shot.
I'm not hoping I'm going to be held up again now that I carry. I can fantasise, think, "Wouldn't it be cool?" but then when it all comes down to it, if you shoot somebody, even if you're not found criminally guilty, that person can still come back and sue you civilly. I'm going to have to pay for my lawyer, I'm going to have to take time off work, and nothing may ever come of it but I've still lost that money.
A lot of girls might carry their gun in their purse and I just don't think that's a good idea. I carry openly on occasion. I don't walk into Walmart with it, but I do if I go to the gas station or the video store.
I could never shoot an animal. Unless it was charging at me.
Pastor Phil Richards, 44
Bartlett, Tennessee
I was saved at 25. Three years later, the Lord started calling me into the ministry. I submitted to him. Now I'm a pastor of a Reformed Baptist Church. I take care of 24 souls that the Lord has blessed me with.
My Marlin 30-30 is the gun that I hunt with. I also have a number of shotguns and handguns, including a Sig .40 calibre. The Taurus is actually my wife's gun. It's smaller and it's a gun that I will usually have if it's not in her car or something.
The first gun that was given to me was a .22 long rifle when I was about nine years old. In fact, the first gun I ever fired was a .38 Special - I do remember that because I near about hit myself in the head with it because it kicked so hard and I was so little. I have a gun with me prettty much all of the time except in church. During the week I might walk in with one but it's not like you're going to come in here on a Sunday morning and find that my gun's sitting up on the pulpit while I'm preaching.
It's interesting to me, when I read the scriptures, that when Jesus is being arrested in the Garden, Peter draws his sword and cuts off the ear of one of the High Priest servants. After three and a half years of being with Jesus Christ and even being one of the disciples, Peter is still carrying a sword. And Luke implies that the others were also armed with a sword. They probably used it as Peter did that night for protection.
Most people misunderstand the Ten Commandments. The commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" has been mistranslated in the King James version. The Hebrew word there is the word for murder. So murder is against God's law - not killing.
Jan Shultis-Bowers, 23
Millington, Tennessee
I'm an Episcopalian, a young woman living alone and an officer in the navy - my husband is stationed in Florida.
I have had negative experiences with men in the past that were forceful. I have never had to use my gun, but I have had to draw it to defend myself. I pray to God that I never have to fire that trigger and I probably never will. The sound of that pump is enough to drive away a burglar or an attacker - everybody in the world knows that sound. It's a deterrent and a highly effective one.
My father made a career in the Marine Corps. He always taught me that it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl - you need to be able to take care of yourself. One of the ways you can do that is by the responsible use of a gun. It's irresponsible use that gets people hurt.
I grew up in Alaska. I was outdoors constantly - hunting, fishing, travelling. Having a gun was a matter of physical safety - for rattlesnakes and bears and things like that. I was shooting when I was six or seven.
I lost my faith for a while but it didn't lose me. I was a young teenager going through some hard stuff. At this point, my faith is unshakeable.
People sin, obviously, and the greater sin would be to not do anything. If you're on a street, with a gun, and someone is getting raped in an alley, then the greater sin is to walk by because the Commandments say you should not kill. I think the lesser of two evils in that situation is to pull your gun out of your purse and say, "Excuse me, what are you doing?"
Christians are charged with waging war against evil. The term there is war. I think it's extremely hard to reconcile your religious beliefs with some of your duties. But I don't believe that the God I believe in would want me to be vulnerable to people who are consumed with evil and evil intentions.
Jeff Quinn, 49
Carlisle, Tennessee
I'm a Southern Baptist, it's all I've ever known. We basically believe that if it's written in the pages of the Bible, it's true, and if it's not we don't include it in our lives.
I've got too many firearms to list them all. I've had guns since I was 11 years old. I like them because it's about the only thing you can buy now that is a quality piece of American-made design.
They're fun to shoot and they're useful. For hunting, for snakes coming into the yard. For home protection. We've got police but they can't be everywhere at once. In Miami, somebody was crawling through the window. My wife pointed the gun at them and they took off. I hope she would have used it if she'd needed to. Don't let anybody get close enough to grab the gun. If they get that close, you need to pull the trigger.
I got the first carry permit in Stewart County. If I've got my pants on, I've got my gun. Everywhere except the airport, because they search you there. School - yeah, I carry. Church, all the time. You might disagree with the preacher or something!
God says he'll take care of us but he expects us to do a little work. Usually, a guy who has a gun on him is going to be more responsible. You don't want to get into an argument with somebody, you might end up killing them. I hope my faith plays a part in that.
Jamie and Anna Nabakowski, both 22
Bartlett, Tennessee
Jamie: We're both nondenominational Christians and we're both students. We've been married for just over a year and live at my parents' house. We have three guns - a Smith & Wesson pistol, a Browning shotgun and a Savage .22 rifle.
I usually go to the gun range a couple of times a month. It's kind of expensive, but I like to take Anna to the range for Date Night on Fridays, it's a lot of fun. The rifle's for duck hunting. Unfortunately, in a place like we live, you just never know.
When we have children, we'll teach them to respect firearms. We call them firearms and not guns with kids - they have a fear of fire from a very young age.
I don't think banning guns would prevent things like the campus shootings. Those people would have guns even if they were illegal. Here in the United States, we live in a gun culture.
The Bible says that if somebody strikes you, you must turn the other cheek. However, the protection of your loved ones and your home is the responsibility of the individual.
Jamie Tyson, 37
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm a Methodist. It's like a cool Baptist. We use the King James Bible.
I own a Colt ACP .45 calibre single-action. I don't leave the house without it. I don't go to my parents' house next door without it. I refuse to be a victim. I had three incidents; one was a carjacking, the other two were armed robberies. The third time was when I'd had enough. It was at a garage sale in broad daylight. I noticed there was a guy riding by on a bicycle. I was bent down looking at something and he came up behind me and put the gun at my back and said, "Give me the purse, bitch." I grabbed my purse as hard as I could and just took off.
If I'd had my gun on me the second time I was held up, I would for sure have killed the guy that had the gun and probably the two guys beside him. If it's at a crowded place - like at the garage sale - I don't know if I could have taken that shot.
I'm not hoping I'm going to be held up again now that I carry. I can fantasise, think, "Wouldn't it be cool?" but then when it all comes down to it, if you shoot somebody, even if you're not found criminally guilty, that person can still come back and sue you civilly. I'm going to have to pay for my lawyer, I'm going to have to take time off work, and nothing may ever come of it but I've still lost that money.
A lot of girls might carry their gun in their purse and I just don't think that's a good idea. I carry openly on occasion. I don't walk into Walmart with it, but I do if I go to the gas station or the video store.
I could never shoot an animal. Unless it was charging at me.
Pastor Phil Richards, 44
Bartlett, Tennessee
I was saved at 25. Three years later, the Lord started calling me into the ministry. I submitted to him. Now I'm a pastor of a Reformed Baptist Church. I take care of 24 souls that the Lord has blessed me with.
My Marlin 30-30 is the gun that I hunt with. I also have a number of shotguns and handguns, including a Sig .40 calibre. The Taurus is actually my wife's gun. It's smaller and it's a gun that I will usually have if it's not in her car or something.
The first gun that was given to me was a .22 long rifle when I was about nine years old. In fact, the first gun I ever fired was a .38 Special - I do remember that because I near about hit myself in the head with it because it kicked so hard and I was so little. I have a gun with me prettty much all of the time except in church. During the week I might walk in with one but it's not like you're going to come in here on a Sunday morning and find that my gun's sitting up on the pulpit while I'm preaching.
It's interesting to me, when I read the scriptures, that when Jesus is being arrested in the Garden, Peter draws his sword and cuts off the ear of one of the High Priest servants. After three and a half years of being with Jesus Christ and even being one of the disciples, Peter is still carrying a sword. And Luke implies that the others were also armed with a sword. They probably used it as Peter did that night for protection.
Most people misunderstand the Ten Commandments. The commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" has been mistranslated in the King James version. The Hebrew word there is the word for murder. So murder is against God's law - not killing.
Jan Shultis-Bowers, 23
Millington, Tennessee
I'm an Episcopalian, a young woman living alone and an officer in the navy - my husband is stationed in Florida.
I have had negative experiences with men in the past that were forceful. I have never had to use my gun, but I have had to draw it to defend myself. I pray to God that I never have to fire that trigger and I probably never will. The sound of that pump is enough to drive away a burglar or an attacker - everybody in the world knows that sound. It's a deterrent and a highly effective one.
My father made a career in the Marine Corps. He always taught me that it doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl - you need to be able to take care of yourself. One of the ways you can do that is by the responsible use of a gun. It's irresponsible use that gets people hurt.
I grew up in Alaska. I was outdoors constantly - hunting, fishing, travelling. Having a gun was a matter of physical safety - for rattlesnakes and bears and things like that. I was shooting when I was six or seven.
I lost my faith for a while but it didn't lose me. I was a young teenager going through some hard stuff. At this point, my faith is unshakeable.
People sin, obviously, and the greater sin would be to not do anything. If you're on a street, with a gun, and someone is getting raped in an alley, then the greater sin is to walk by because the Commandments say you should not kill. I think the lesser of two evils in that situation is to pull your gun out of your purse and say, "Excuse me, what are you doing?"
Christians are charged with waging war against evil. The term there is war. I think it's extremely hard to reconcile your religious beliefs with some of your duties. But I don't believe that the God I believe in would want me to be vulnerable to people who are consumed with evil and evil intentions.
Jeff Quinn, 49
Carlisle, Tennessee
I'm a Southern Baptist, it's all I've ever known. We basically believe that if it's written in the pages of the Bible, it's true, and if it's not we don't include it in our lives.
I've got too many firearms to list them all. I've had guns since I was 11 years old. I like them because it's about the only thing you can buy now that is a quality piece of American-made design.
They're fun to shoot and they're useful. For hunting, for snakes coming into the yard. For home protection. We've got police but they can't be everywhere at once. In Miami, somebody was crawling through the window. My wife pointed the gun at them and they took off. I hope she would have used it if she'd needed to. Don't let anybody get close enough to grab the gun. If they get that close, you need to pull the trigger.
I got the first carry permit in Stewart County. If I've got my pants on, I've got my gun. Everywhere except the airport, because they search you there. School - yeah, I carry. Church, all the time. You might disagree with the preacher or something!
God says he'll take care of us but he expects us to do a little work. Usually, a guy who has a gun on him is going to be more responsible. You don't want to get into an argument with somebody, you might end up killing them. I hope my faith plays a part in that.
