Firearms and Catholics: Why Do You Want One?

Like many conservative Americans, I am enamored with firearm platforms.  I find them useful on both a theoretical, just-in-case basis and for practical, everyday purposes.  Besides this, they’re just plain fun.  The feeling of satisfaction you get when you can send a round down range nearly 300 meters and knock down a target cannot be replicated: it is really like reaching out and touching something.  I do not exaggerate when I claim that an appropriate firearm, efficiently selected and trained with, can feel much more like an extension of your own body rather than a utensil in your hand.  To achieve this level of proficiency, however, a clear understanding of the primary and secondary purposes of firearms in general is required: we must remember that a firearm is a tool intended to exert deadly force upon its target.  That is unequivocally the intended purpose of a firearm, just as the intended purpose of a knife is to efficiently slice, parcel, or puncture its intended target, according to the blade design of the particular item. As Catholics, we have no theological problem or qualms about the general legitimacy of owning firearms: the just war theory, right to self defense, and principle of unintended consequences all provide a practical defense of firearm ownership.  This being said, mass shootings frequently bring firearm specifics to the forefront of societal conversation: legitimacy of AR-15’s, magazine capacity, ammunition caliber and stockpiling, to name a few.  As we could only expect, among even Catholics the answers to these questions range from unlimited application of the 2nd amendment to advocating for strict prohibitions against one or another specific firearm feature.  How ought we as Catholics to view individual firearm ownership?  As with everything else in life, the only permissible way we can approach this issue is to always act with the end in mind.

There are a good many people in the US who have a sense of security by owning a firearm, and I do not begrudge them this security.  However, firearm ownership is not an end in itself and does not automatically offer security or protection.  The default situation is actually the opposite: firearm ownership by default introduces hazard and danger to yourself and your loved ones, a danger which only you as the owner can mitigate.  There are so many factors which go into firearm ownership, a simple article here cannot cover them all, but here are a few considerations.  You have to store the firearm in such a way that I as a burglar cannot get it, but you can (I don’t need my own firearm if I can have yours…).  You have to load it in such a way that your children cannot shoot it, but you can send rounds down range in a matter of seconds.  You have to be proficient enough under pressure that you can stop the threat and not submit your home, family, or neighbors to deadly force.  And finally (for this article’s purposes), you have to know how to appropriately respond with your firearm as dictated by the circumstances.  All this to say, you have to train with the particular firearm so that it actually is a security measure and not a liability to yourself or your family.

So you are committed to owning a firearm and putting in the work: good for you!  I could not be more happy for you.  The next step is having in your mind exactly what your intended purpose is for your purchase.  You cannot proceed with the end in mind if you do not know your own end.  The temptation is bigger = better, more secure, but as we have already discussed, nothing is automatic about firearm ownership (except maybe a feature on the platform!).  You have to know what your target is.  As an example: my first firearm purchase in preparation for my wedding was a 20. Gauge, pump-action Remington Shotgun for home defense.  My criteria was simple, and methodical.  I knew there would be times where I would be away for extended periods of time, and needed something small enough my wife could handle but big enough I could still knock a squirrel down: 20 Gauge for size, shotgun for defense.  Hollywood and our American attitude convinces us that we could kill a man if we had to and come out a badass as a result, but a killing is an incredibly hard thing to come back from.  If there is any way around it, that way is infinitely better on a practical level, let alone the theological.  I wanted my wife to be secure, but wanted to give her every opportunity to avoid the tragedy of having to kill someone: pump action platform (there is only one thing in the world that makes that sound, and 9 times out of 10 an intruder is making the decision to run and live.  If they don’t, they probably can outgun you anyhow).  That was pretty much it, and it has served us well.  

I can’t pretend to pontificate as to whether you or any individual needs a 30 round magazine for your AR-15, chambered in 5.56 NATO with a binary trigger.  In theory, I can see the practical application for such a tool.  But, on the individual level, the task of utmost importance is to effectively and honestly contemplate the end before the use.  If you buy a firearm because it is fun, that is one thing (and easier to justify).  If you buy one because you have some notion of turning your home into a fortress because there might be an organized assault on your holding, that is something else entirely.  Just know what you intend to use it for, and but a platform which most closely fits your need.  One of my father’s most frequent saying to us while we were growing up was, “We use things for what they’re meant to be used for around here”, and nothing could be more true when it comes to firearm ownership.  I will say for my own part, many platforms later after that original shotgun, the piece I have had the most legitimate use for by far is my Phoenix .22 pistol.  I bought it on a whim as an experimental slaughter gun for 80 bucks 5 years ago, and have never looked back.  One cow, 3 hogs, 4 raccoons, a groundhog, and many other uses have made this my most used firearm - and it’s not even a very good gun to begin with (or so any gun aficionado would judge).  But, its incredibly specific intended application and its unfailing delivery say otherwise.  I bought it as any good Catholic should buy anything: always with the end in mind.