Reporting for The Daily Wire October 21, 2022, Charlotte Pence Bond quotes Justin Trudeau at a press conference in Surrey, British Columbia: “We have frozen the market for handguns in this country.”
“Canadians have the right to feel safe in their homes, in their schools, and in their places of worship. With handgun violence increasing across Canada, it is our duty to take urgent action to remove these deadly weapons from our communities. Today, we’re keeping more guns out of our communities, and keeping our kids safe.”
Meanwhile, in the most recent Ben Shapiro Sunday Special, he interviewed Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil, which was pretty fascinating in general. But one thing Bolsonaro mentioned that I found particularly fascinating was his crediting a decrease in violent crime in Brazil, during his time in office, to having worked to change the laws so that Brazilians were lawfully permitted to use their firearms in self-defense anywhere on their property. And I get the distinct impression that the legal system previous to Bolsonaro did not respect the God-given rights of Brazilians to use deadly force in self-defense except inside their own home.
Another interesting fact is that Bolsonaro ran for president in 2018, and took office in 2019. Yet, according to Statista, Between 2006 and 2017, the homicide rate rose from 26.61 to 31.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. But in 2018, the homicide rate dropped from 31.6 the year before to 27.8, and then to 21.65 in 2019. That is, the year Bolsonaro ran for office the murder rate dropped 4.2 points; the year he took office, it dropped a further 6.15 points.
That’s a total of 10.35 points in two years, down from 31.6 per 100,000 inhabitants the year before Bolsonaro ran. Could this be due to a fearful expectation on the part of criminals that Brazil was about to get a president who was tough on crime? Possibly. Could this also be due to law-abiding citizens across the country being more assertive and feeling more empowered by Bolsonaro’s example? I think so.
Lauren and I watched the gubernatorial debate between current Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom and Republican State Senator Brian Dahle on Epoch TV Sunday night. One thing really stood out to me, including a claim Newsom made, in answer to Dahle criticizing the increase in criminal activity in California under Democrats, that most of the states with the highest homicide rate in the U.S. voted for Donald Trump in 2020.
Looking it up at CDC.gov, sure enough, seven of the ten states with the highest homicide rate in 2020 are in the Deep South. I had a hunch it has something to do with the largest cities in each state. As it turns out, there does seem to be a correlation - specifically with regards to where Democrat mayors hold sway.
My friend Alex Casetta sent me a link to a segment from 1994 that was aired on Dr. James Dobson’s program, Focus on the Family. In the segment, a woman named Margy Mayfield talks about having been abducted by serial murderer and rapist Stephen Morin in San Antonio, Texas back in 1981, and how she miraculously escaped becoming the last of four dozen victims in 12 years by quoting Scripture, praying, and evangelizing fearlessly.
In sum, considering Luke 6 and Romans 13, should Christians argue that more or fewer guns will make society safer?
