“9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;” – KJV Bible 1 Timothy 1

There are some obvious things related to the quote I’ve used above.

The first of these, is that this concept has been around for a very long time (I would imagine, far longer than this expression of the idea).

Another would be that Christianity at least supports the concept that people working toward being righteous, are not the ones for whom “the law” was created.

I would, in fact, go so far as to say this is the case for law in general (not just the law as it relates to Christianity, or the law referred to in the idea, “the law and the prophets”). Simply put, if people were not inclined to do things they ought not, what would be the purpose of law?

You may take this as the point of this piece; to indicate that laws would be essentially of no effect, if everybody did as they should do.

There’s an important reason I bring this up.

I saw recently yet again a politician decrying the need to “tighten the laws on” the purchase and possession of guns.

You might think that’s a good thing, let me try to help you to understand why it’s not.

The person in question was talking about how it was “too easy for people to get their hands on guns.” Sounds like a reasonable proposition, right? And in some sense it is, just not in the way they were trying to couch things.

Here’s the problem. The majority of gun crime appears to not be a result of “legally owned” guns, and often, where it is by weapons that were purchased through “proper channels,” it’s more likely than not that the “property” in question was not used by its legal owner to commit the aforementioned crime.

That’s not to say no lawful owners of firearms commit crimes with their legally owned weapon, just that apparently, the number is at best, quite small.

This plays strongly in my mind, into the idea that “law is for the lawless.”

When people are willing to abide by the various strictures that are put in place by numerous entities—regardless the “level” of such lawmakers—it’s pretty much a given that they’ll at least attempt to follow the laws in place after acquiring them as well. Of course, that’s not ever going to be universally true, but that doesn’t mean the vast majority of folks who legally obtain weapons won’t work to live within the various regulations known to them.

More importantly, the thing that actually informs the actions of those legally obtaining and holding various types of gun, is typically not the law to begin with.

The assumption that people are “moved about by” or “under the control of” various ordinances put in place by various individuals who look at themselves as lawmakers and peacekeepers, is absurd on its face. It’s only for those who have no—or bad—personal standards that “law” of various types matters to begin with.

By way of example, I believe that all life is precious; I further believe people should naturally protect life, on the simple realilzation that, once somebody loses his or her life, they’ll never get it back. Because of that belief, I cannot imagine taking the life of another human being without exceptionally good cause.

These days, it’s not at all hard to find people who don’t appear to share this belief. You can find them beating pregnant women in plain view of their fellows (some of whom are egging them on while they’re doing it, or even helping). It’s there for people who push down eighty-year-olds for no apparent reason. You view it when children are shot for being, “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” It’s clear it’s also there when someone shoots another human being to prove their loyalty to a lawless group (like most gangs).

Not only am I not saying, “this is a matter of race,” I’m not saying it’s anything like the only thing one sees.

I saw a touching video just the other day, where a dad bought a baseball bat for his son and shared a video of his son receiving the gift. There was another, where a small group of young men (who happened to be “black”) helped a man to get his elderly wife into the family’s vehicle (the couple they helped were “white”).

I can’t agree with the idea that human life is invariably good (in fact, I know well that it’s not), but I can say there is good out there—and it “crosses all boundaries.” This is equally true for evil.

What you should realize though, is that you don’t “fix bad” by “regulating good.” In fact, you don’t “fix bad” by making rules against it either.

How do you make good, decent people? It starts early, and preferably at home, but it extends to all of us. When you present a role model, and help young folks to understand how important it is to be good, honorable, helpful, useful folks, you’re helping to make the difference.

Even so, there will always be bad. That’s not something you should ever expect to leave the World entirely.

Although that’s the case, it’s my fervent hope that the more people we can bring to see the benefit of their helpfulness, of their general goodness to society at large, the less “bad behavior” we can expect to see.

We’re living in times I hoped never to see. Times when people of all types of groups (“whites,” “blacks,” men, women, young and old and so many more) are acting in ways that would once have been deemed insane. We must work to change this. We must seek to present ourselves as good, honest honorable people to those around us—even if they refuse to capitulate. Do you think there’s some “better way?” By all means, let me hear it!

Thanks for reading, and may your time be good.