How Do Jehovah's Witnesses Feel About Handgun Ownership?

by Cold Steel 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  leavingwt

  you would never get any privileges if you owned a gun

  Even a hunting rifle or shotgun?

  From the input here, I'm getting the impression that, much like other issues, the local body of hounders had a large impact on how the congregation would see these matters.

  Here, the only thing that would keep a brother from having privileges, related to firearms, is a HANDGUN being kept for the expressed purpose of self-defense. Everything else was OK and would not be questioned. Deer hunting with a rifle was seen no differently than fishing with a rod and reel.

  -LWT
• 

  undercover

  No prob, LWT. I didn't see it as confrontational, just matter-of-fact. And you did "kindly ask"...
• 

  daniel-p

  It largely depends on the prevailing sensibilities of the area. In rural areas, where hunting and gun-related culture is more common, it can be quite acceptable to own firearms. In other areas, however, it can be seen as a "stumbling block."
• 

  BurnTheShips

  Even a hunting rifle or shotgun?

  That is correct. I grew up in a Spanish-language congo. Different culture. My parents wouldn't even let me play with toy guns.

  My non-JW grandfather, however, was heeled.

  BTS
• 

  leavingwt

  During most of my childhood, I was on 165+ acres of woods/farmland. If you're familiar with this setting, then you're probably familiar with the wild animals (predators and animals that would ruin crops) that must be "dealth with" by private land owners. If necessary, putting down a domesticated animal or a pet would also be the responsibility of the owner, as there was no government agency to handle this. Obviously, not every single household had a firearm, but everyone certainly had a friend with one, to help with these matters, as needed.
• 

  undercover

  During most of my childhood, I was on 165+ acres of woods/farmland. If you're familiar with this setting, then you're probably familiar with the wild animals (predators and animals that would ruin crops) that must be "dealth with" by private land owners. If necessary, putting down a domesticated animal or a pet would also be the responsibility of the owner, as there was no government agency to handle this.

  I grew up in a rural setting that was being encroached upon by the city. More and more urbanites were moving outside the city, creating the suburbia settings. There was the clash of city life with country life. And the city was growing due to transplants from up North, mostly from the big cities of up North. Our country setting was shrinking as more and more pastures or tobacco fields were turned into housing developments.

  We were caught between country living and city living. And to make it worse, all the Kingdom Halls were in the city and were mostly attended by JWs who lived in the city. It took many, many years to gain any converts in the outlying farming towns and communities. Even today, JWs have not managed to grow in some of the more rural counties.

  The attitudes of the those that moved in and were used to urban living clashed with the more simple and self-sufficient lifestyle of the country folk. On the surface, everyone got along, but there was always a resentment of the transplanted Yankees and the city folk trying to impose their ways on us. Just as some of them looked down on us as backwards and stubborn, we looked down on them as arrogant and snobbish.

  I'm not saying anyone was right or wrong...it's just the way it was. And that is a general overview. There were exceptions. Because the culture of the area was changing, many things that we grew up with came under question by newcomers and visitors. Being a JW was all about being different from the world and it seemed that the city JWs excelled in trying to live up to that, while the country dubs were satisfied in leaving well enough alone and fitting in with the community as much as possible.

  I remember brothers getting upset when counseled about gun ownership...especially those that lived further out. They worried some about self-protection living so far from police protection but it was more about protection for their livestock from wild animals. And here comes some city dub trying to tell him that he didn't need guns. It didn't go over very well.
• 

  TD

  --Similar situation in much of AZ. So many people were transplants that there was a culture clash.

  Back when I attended meetings with my JW wife, I remember an Elder from Boston who had lived here less than a year waggling his finger during a talk and saying, "Some of us before we became Jehovah's Witnesses may have owned guns, (Visible shudder) but we have since put on the new personality...."

  While he was saying that, I caught the eye of an Elder that had lived here all his life and grown up on his father's cattle ranch. --He was rolling his eyes and making a disgusted face. --It was priceless.
• 

  truthlover

  gotta rifle, never use it.. its registered and I have my FAC

  Most farmers in the area do own guns-- lots of coyotes here and they are stealth killers of the cattle and sheep..

  Also there are a lot of deer hunters during the hunting season for deer, moose and rabbit... all legal kills --- therefore... guns
• 

  no more kool aid

  We have always had guns, but didn't advertise it because I heard of others being counseled about it and didn't want to hear the blah blah blah.
• 

  ssn587

  I own 5 weapons 2 handguns 3 rifles and am shopping for a shotgun, i remeber some time back last year or just earlier an elder asked me what i would do if my or my family's life was threated, I told him I would shot those threating in doing harm to my family. He asked how i could do that, i told him easy aim for body mass and don't quit pulling the trigger until they are down. He looked severely shocked, shaking his head, he looked at me like i had suddenly grown horns.

  He said what about Jesus sayingturn the other cheek, I said that only has to do when we are being set upon i.e. persecuted due to our religious beliefs. And it doesn't apply outside of that.