Opinion
In a recent OP-ED, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Gordon Monson wants The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to throw its weight behind gun control.
He wants your rifles buried in the dirt, your pistols pried from your hands, and your GOD-given right to self-defense turned into a sin. Let’s be honest: this isn’t about peace. It’s about stripping away liberty and leaving the faithful defenseless in a broken world.
Monson argues that because the church has spoken out on coffee, alcohol, and tobacco, it should now dictate what we think about firearms. But here’s the difference: caffeine doesn’t stop a home invasion. A cup of tea won’t save your daughter from a violent criminal. Only the most effective self-defense tool in human history—the firearm—can level the playing field between good and evil when seconds count and the police are minutes away.
GOD Gives Us Agency, Guns Protect It
Monson quotes LDS President Nelson lamenting that men have passed laws “allowing guns to go to people who shouldn’t have them.” He misses the key point: it’s not GOD handing murderers firearms. It’s men abusing the gift of free will. Free will is central to the Gospel. Without it, there’s no moral accountability—only tyranny.
The right to keep and bear arms is an extension of that agency. It’s the ability to defend yourself, your family, and your neighbors from those who would do harm, whether that’s a home invader, a violent mob, or even a tyrannical government. History is full of lessons about what happens when the righteous are disarmed: oppression, genocide, and bloodshed.
As the Constitution rightly affirms, this right “shall not be infringed.” That’s not a suggestion; it’s a safeguard—because our Founders understood that rights come from GOD, not governments.
The Prince of Peace & the Sword
Monson wants the LDS Church to emulate the Anti-Nephi-Lehies, who buried their weapons rather than fight. But Christ himself, in Luke 22:36, told his disciples: “If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” This wasn’t a call to violence, but a recognition that living in a fallen world sometimes means being prepared to protect the innocent.
A firearm is the modern-day sword. It is a defensive tool—a force multiplier that allows a 120-pound woman to fend off a 250-pound attacker, or a safety team to stop a would-be mass murderer in their church before lives are lost.
Would Monson rather see the faithful helpless and slaughtered in their pews? That is not peace. That is cowardice in the face of evil.
Guns Aren’t the Problem—Sin Is
It’s true that violence breaks hearts and devastates families. But guns aren’t the cause. Evil people are. Cain killed Abel without an AR-15. The human heart—not a hunk of metal—is where murder begins.
Stripping the law-abiding of their rights won’t save lives; it will only embolden predators who don’t care about laws. Criminals, by definition, don’t follow gun bans. And every time a government disarms its people, it leaves them at the mercy of the strong, the corrupt, and the wicked.
Faith, Freedom, & Responsibility
The LDS Church does not need to wade into this political morass by endorsing gun control. What it should do is encourage personal responsibility, moral restraint, and a return to faith. A righteous, armed people is a peaceful people—not because they seek conflict, but because evil fears resistance.
If we truly believe that rights come from GOD, then the right to defend life must be sacred. Monson’s call to disarm is not just an attack on the Second Amendment; it’s an affront to GOD’s gift of agency and to the dignity of every soul created in His image.
It’s time for the faithful to stand firm. Peace is not the absence of guns; it is the presence of justice—and sometimes, justice requires strength.
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About Tred Law
Tred Law is your everyday patriot with a deep love for this country and a no-compromise approach to the Second Amendment. He does not write articles for Ammoland every week, but when he does write, it is usually about liberals Fing with his right to keep and bear arms.
