Rachel, welcome to the forum.Rachel Martin wrote:Charles L. Cotton wrote:And he voted against concealed-carry. Eight of his church members who might be alive if he had expressly allowed members to carry handguns in church are dead.ShootDontTalk wrote:Something else to consider: The pastor of this church, who was killed, is a State Legislator in S.C.
Chas.
That's some serious victim-blaming, sir. Isn't the murderer in fact the one to blame for the nine dead folks being dead? (I realize that may not fit your agenda, to put the blame squarely where it belongs - at the feet of a guy who used a gun to kill nine innocents in a house of worship - but try for some accuracy. You demean your cause otherwise, I feel.)
As a member of my church, I am deeply concerned for the safety of my family and my friends and other members of our church. At our services last night we prayed for the families and other church members from Charleston that are impacted by this horrific event. The pure evil inside of the person (I refuse to say the name) that planned this attack on my fellow followers of Christ is difficult to understand and it is easy to blame God for not protecting these people from the evil. But as a follower of Christ, I understand that evil is present in this world and bad things happen to good people.
I live in the real world and in the real world evil exists and tries to destroy what is good. I also know that if someone is bent on doing bad things, they will find a way regardless of what the law says and regardless of what weapon is available to that evil person. This person had hatred in his heart and even if a gun was not accessible, I believe he would have done the same act with whatever weapon he could find like a knife or a machete.
The gun is not the problem, the problem is the heart of the person who used the gun. I, like so many others on this forum have one or more guns on their person even when attending church services because it is legal to do so. We are not security for the church, we are simply men and women who made the choice to be licensed to carry a gun and be the first line of defense for our own safety and that of our family and others if, God forbid, our lives are in danger by an evil person bent on hurting and killing others.
I don't speak for Charles or anyone else on this forum, but I do not believe anyone here is or ever will blame the victims in this shooting. The blame is on the shooter who has evil in his heart. The state of SC had made possession of a legally owned and carried gun illegal in a place of worship and I do not understand why anyone would think that a place of worship would be immune from violence. Only the law abiding people will follow the law, criminals won't.