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.
The “issue” with violence has nothing to do with the weapon but the person wielding it. Cain murdered Able with a rock and mankind has been killing each other ever since. Rocks, sticks, swords, knives, guns, bombs, gas, nuclear weapons etc. there are no degrees in death. This world is an evil place because of mankind’s nature and satan. You can try to ban all the rocks on the planet but it won’t change anything except for more innocent people getting murdered. Ever heard the saying, “Peace through superior firepower?” There is solid historical reason that saying is true. The… Read more »
Same old bullshit, time after time from religious fanatics. I believe in the one true God that sent his son to die on the cross that we may have everlasting spiritual life. In that respect, I do have a right to defend myself. On the other hand, atheists that do not believe in God have that same instinctual right and SCIENCE has proven that the unwillingness to defend one’s self when being attacked is not natural and has mental disorder implications. Both scenarios come up with one conclusion. We have the right to protect ourselves and it is by any… Read more »
isn’t this the same group that was, let’s say, “less than friendly” to settlers in the salt lake area when brigham young and his gang moved out west? my how time have changed.
just asking for a friend.
A few decades back some “good friends” and I were realising the whole hippie thing was bankrupt, and held no real future for us. We were “searching” Tried this, tried that, nothing satisfied. Some mormon “missionary” kids (they had tags on their crisp white button down shirts that read “ELDER”. ) dropped by and filled them with stuff, and left them a copy of their book. They were hooked. Next visit they were gushing about how wonderful the whole thing was. They gave me a copy of that book. I go home and started reading it. I got as Var… Read more »
Guns don’t kill people! People don’t kill people! Gun control kills people!
A lot of LDS Members are Democrats and also bat sheet crazy.The Lord will weed them out someday thank goodness. I go to Church with some of them,most were Indoctrinated by Liberal Schools. The Church itself has no position on guns rather than you can’t carry inside a Church building
Luke 22:49-50. When they came to arrest Yeshua, they ALL went for their swords, Simon Peter drew his and lopped the high priest’s ear off. They all had swords
The 1A gone sideways.
Spare us from the ravings of religious nuts of all kinds. The only thing that should drive decisions on gun control is the Constitution, and if we’re discussing further amending the Constitution it should be based on statistical evidence, and the evidence still supports the 2nd Amendment. Mythical sky fathers and the deluded fools who believe them can piss off.