One person thinks they know the mind of Jesus concerning weapons.  “Guns are only allowed in bars if the person carrying the weapon doesn’t drink. Jesus and the disciples didn’t carry in church because no one else did.”

This is what happens when idiots write letters.  Guns didn’t exist in the time of Jesus, but swords did, and Jesus told his disciples to carry them.  As for church, I think his ninja use of the whip (Matthew 21:12) was enough to convince most people of his seriousness.  And just to emphasize the point concerning people who refuse to consider their role in protecting the little ones, I said:

God has laid the expectations at the feet of heads of families that they protect, provide for and defend their families and protect and defend their countries.  Little ones cannot do so, and rely solely on those who bore them.  God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse.  He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls.  God hasn’t called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists or murderers. Self defense – and defense of the little ones – goes well beyond a right.  It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in God’s image.

Those who want to worship hippie Jesus should move to the corner of Haight and Ashbury – and stop writing idiot letters.

Religious Herald:

Nearly 200 interfaith religious leaders — including at least a dozen Baptists — took out a full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Feb. 26 to oppose a bill in the Georgia legislature which would lift restrictions on guns in houses of worship and bars.

So in other words, nearly 200 “pastors” in the Atlanta area believe that God answers to the state.  This is a precursor to a new featured article I have coming (but is not yet ripe).  The totalitarians are among us.  They don’t live inside the beltway, they mooch off of hard workers, they cast their lot with the state, they worship the collective, and they live near and around you.  You know them.

To this article on Chuck Hagel, one commenter says “Hey Chuck, why don’t you have three more scotches and pass out on it, maybe you will change your mind if you can remember what you said yesterday.”  It appears that Chuck is a well known Washington drunk.  Another commenter says “If a grenade happened to be tossed in a room with Chuck Hagel and myself, I would have to do the right thing and push him on top of it.”  It would be a fitting end, no?

Kurt Hofmann:

I’m beginning to wonder whether we have any idea about what’s at stake when we give civilians the right to walk around with a gun.

No, that’s not Kurt.  Kurt is quoting someone who allegedly sells guns, and if he feels this way, he is violating his conscience and sinning against God and man.  On top of that he is a hypocrite and thug trying to make money doing things he thinks is bad.  He is nothing more than a whore.

David Codrea:

In the wake of public unrest where the government used deadly force against protestors, the Ukrainian Gun Owners Association has proposed an amendment to the nation’s constitution …

Finish reading the proposal at David’s place.  And there you have it.  The difference between free men and slaves.

Mike Vanderboegh has crafted an open letter to the tyrants in Connecticut responsible for the obscene gun law, and this is well worth the read.  Mike has also published a list of the names of all legislators who voted for the Connecticut gun law along with their addresses, and Mike has published their list of email addresses here.  Visit Mike’s site, take a few minutes and do what you know needs to be done.

But I have a few words for Mike, and then a few for the communists in Connecticut.  Mike says the following.

Indeed we are all His sons and daughters, and I am grateful for Paul’s prayerful reminder to me of Who I serve. However, you may conclude from my opening that I am struggling with that “diplomacy” part …

It’s okay Mike.  Cease your struggling.  While I do admire and respect you so very much, I disagree profoundly on this point.  We are most certainly not all sons and daughters of God.  The fact that we are all made in His image only heightens their guilt and highlights the distinction.

People tend to remember what they want to hear.  So for example, at Christmas people remember this: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace …,” and that’s about it.  What the passage really says is this: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”  Jesus also said to the Pharisees “You are of your father the devil” (John 8:44).

And God is not pleased with the men and women of Connecticut who voted in favor this this law.  God hates totalitarians of all stripes, all persuasions, in every form and manifestation and at all times in history.  Notice that I didn’t say He hates totalitarianism but loves totalitarians.  He does not.  He hates them both.  Satan is a totalitarian.

Speaking of totalitarians, David tells us once again what it looks like.  It means putting the lives of animals above humans who are made in God’s image.  We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?

So I’m not saying what I would and wouldn’t do to help my brothers in Connecticut, and this post isn’t dedicated to outlining my actions or lack thereof.  That would be stupid.  But here is one thing I can start with.  And this prayer applies to Senator Larry Martin of Pickens, Bobby Timmons of Alabama, and the legislators of Connecticut.

“Oh Lord, the last time I prayed an imprecatory prayer it was against Arlen Specter who was soon diagnosed with cancer, so I do this with much thought and trepidation.  All of the legislators who have voted the recent gun laws into effect in Connecticut have voted to inhibit man’s ability to defend and protect himself and his little ones.

Thus they have offended the Almighty, the most high God, the only sovereign and only potentate.  You have said that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around their necks.  So I pray that you would visit your wrath on them and their families to suffer for the sake of the little ones.

Teach them to obey your laws, teach them the value of human life, teach them that it is their duty both to defend their own little ones and help men and women to do the same.  If they refuse to learn, bring condemnation upon them, bring their means and ends to complete ruination, and inflict them with the reputation forever of being haters of God and haters of children.

Let their progeny remember and think of their lives for generations to come, throughout the lives of the children’s children’s children, and let them remember that their predecessors were evil men and women who would rule with a harsh hand and bitter tongue.

Bring the designs of their lives to naught, bring their aims to nothing, and bring their power down low where it is once again possible in Connecticut to defend families as God designed.

Amen.”

Iowa City:

The University of Iowa president has apologized for a remark she made to the student newspaper about sex assaults on campus.

In an interview published Feb. 18 in The Daily Iowan, President Sally Mason said she was dismayed by the reports of sexual assaults. She said “the goal would be to end that, to never have another sexual assault. That’s probably not a realistic goal just given human nature, and that’s unfortunate. …”

Criticism erupted over the phrase that includes “human nature.”

The Iowa City Press-Citizen says Mason apologized during a President’s Forum on Tuesday.

Mason said she’s been told by several people in the campus community that her remark was hurtful. She said she was “very, very sorry for any pain that my words might have caused.”

Or in other words, man is a tabula rasa and all of his malfeasance and failure to conform is about our failure to socialize him and provide him opportunities for engagement in the political discourse and meaningful labor.  I know that from my college coursework, and I just forgot for a moment.  Please forgive me, please forgive me, please forgive me.

And make sure that you don’t drop out of your master’s programs in social work.  It really does matter.  You’ll learn that in your college courses.

Times-Herald:

Because of ongoing difficulties getting enough ammunition for their .40-caliber service weapons, the Senoia Police Department will be trading them in for new 9mm pistols.

The Senoia City Council approved the trade-in and purchase of the new Glocks at Monday’s city council meeting.

“Over the past year we have had serious … difficulties finding .40-caliber ammunition,” said Senoia Police Chief Jason Edens. “We have been experiencing anything from six to eight months lead time” on getting their full order of both practice ammunition and “duty” ammo.

“It’s not obtainable by any department, not just ours,” Edens told the council.

Edens, and Councilman Jeff Fisher, said that the shortage of 40-caliber bullets is caused by the U.S. Military’s switch to the round.

“They are providing it to the military first… everybody else is second,” Fisher said.

Edens said he has done a lot of research, and there has been extensive testing done with the 9mm round. “It is performing as well as, if not better than, a .40-cal,” he said. It’s also up to 20 percent cheaper and “it is readily available, which is just very important to us.”

There are other advantages, as well. The .40-caliber magazine holds 15 rounds, while the 9mm holds 17. The 9mm bullets aren’t that much smaller than the .40-caliber, but there is less recoil with the 9mm, making it more user friendly. Plus, “we want to build a firearms program that concentrates on precision and accuracy with the shots, as opposed to just having a big chunk of lead,” Edens said.

The newer generation Glocks have a changeable back strap piece that can be customized for the size of the user’s hand.

Edens added that one of his officers, Lt. Jason Ercole, attended Glock’s Armorer School in the fall and can now do maintenance and repairs on the weapons.

The SPD will be trading in 14 used .40-caliber pistols and getting 16 new 9mm pistols. Glock will pay $300 for each trade-in, for a total cost of $2,434 for the new guns.

The military doesn’t use .40 S&W ammunition.  When looking for handgun ammunition, I can always find .22 WMR, .38., .357 Magnum, .40 and .45 (all of which I shoot and need).  I can never find 9 mm ammunition and that’s a good thing because I don’t shoot 9 mm.  The chief has his story backwards.

It sounds to me like the department just wants new firearms and is making up a story to support it.  Unfortunately, the city council is stupid enough to believe them.

The Washington Free Beacon:

Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, testified that the expansion of executive power is happening so fast that America is at a “constitutional tipping point.”

“My view [is] that the president, has in fact, exceeded his authority in a way that is creating a destabilizing influence in a three branch system,” he said. “I want to emphasize, of course, this problem didn’t begin with President Obama, I was critical of his predecessor President Bush as well, but the rate at which executive power has been concentrated in our system is accelerating. And frankly, I am very alarmed by the implications of that aggregation of power.”

[ … ]

Elizabeth Price Foley, a law professor at Florida International University College of Law, agreed, warning that Congress is in danger of becoming “superfluous.”

“Situations like this, these benevolent suspensions as they get more and more frequent and more and more aggressive, they’re eroding our citizens’ respect for the rule of law,” she said. “We are a country of law and not men. It’s going to render Congress superfluous.”

Foley said Congress is not able to tackle meaningful legislation out of fear that Obama would “simply benevolently suspend portions of the law he doesn’t like.”

“If you want to stay relevant as an institution, I would suggest that you not stand idly by and let the president take your power away,” she said.

“What also alarms me, however, is that the two other branches appear not just simply passive, but inert in the face of this concentration of authority,” Turley said.

So what do they want to do about it?  “Given the growing number of examples where this President has clearly failed to faithfully execute all laws, I believe it is time for Congress to put in place a procedure for a fast-track, independent review of those executive actions.”

So after listening to folks tell them they and the judicial branch have become irrelevant, they (the legislative branch) have decided to study it, write a procedure, and ask the other irrelevant branch of government to do something about it, thus fast-tracking their race to complete powerlessness worthy of mockery.

What a bunch of pathetic losers.

They grow to four and a half feet long.

Tampa Bay:

Tampa bay, Florida– Large, invasive lizards are taking over parts of Hillsborough County.

They are called Tegus and they are from South America but have made southwest Florida their new home …

Offner has spent the last three years catching tegus.

“They produce rapidly, laying between 25-50 eggs at a time,” said Offner.  “They eat everything from plants to other animals with bones and shells- also amphibians, and birds.”

“We had a whole gopher turtle preserve on our 1,100 acres and now they are all gone,” said volunteer horse rescue worker, Marvel Stewart. “We see four to five a week on our property.”

Stewart lives in Lithia along with other homeowners who have been reported sightings of the four-foot long lizards.

“One got into our horse shed, and thankfully the horse was not in there at the time, but if it had been it would have been bad because the horse would have bucked, and possibly hurt herself trying to run from the lizard,” said Stewart.

The animals are native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

The FWC has set out 28 traps in the parkland and dozens more on private property to help catch them.

They lure the lizards in with a raw chicken egg and then trap them and humanely euthanize them.

They have no known predators according to the FWC.

Like all invasive species problems, this one can be solved rather easily.  Call in the hunters, and tell people to carry weapons and shoot them on sight.  But that would cause the police concerns because then the “only ones” wouldn’t have sole right to discharge weapons.

If you’re a Floridian with big snakes, lizards, bear, panther and other critters who can harm you and you don’t carry a gun, why not?  As for the invasive species problem, Florida will continue to be overrun by all manner of animals because authorities don’t really want to solve the problem.

This problem is like feral hogs which are overrunning much of America, except the hog problem is much bigger, running some farmers out of business.  There shouldn’t be any limit anywhere on time, manner, season, choice of weapon, with hunting license or not, on killing feral hogs.

You can’t make this stuff up.

He was a Doraville police officer, until a tip led to an investigation and ultimately his dismissal.

“One of our officers was trying to sell an automatic weapon,” says Doraville Police Officer Gene Callaway.

Callaway tells WSB Officer Woodrow Mann had been with the department since 2008.  His attempted sale was discovered following a tip to the police.

“That led to an inquiry and we found that he was trying to sell a Class 3 weapon, which is a fully automatic weapon,” says Callaway.

When Doraville received the tip they contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

“Because the weapon had not been delivered,” Callaway says, “it didn’t meet their threshold for a crime.”

Mann was dismissed from the Doraville police department.  He can appeal his firing.

So let’s leave aside for a moment the issue of the NFA and the Hughes amendment (and Gun Control Act) being obscene abominations.  How does this cop get off trying to sell a class 3 weapon and not be charged with a crime?  Simply because he didn’t actually complete the sell because the ATF caught him?

Okay, so I said let’s leave behind the issue of the NFA, GCA and Hughes amendment being obscene abominations.  I lied.  I didn’t really mean it.  You know what I wouldn’t do if I had a class 3 weapon?  Sell it.  Point it at women and children like SWAT teams do.  Terrorize others with it for no good reason.  Keep it laying about unsecured.  You know.  Bad things.  Things like the police do with automatic weapons.

So tell me again how we’re not qualified to have them and can’t be trusted with such firepower.  Let’s hear it.

Reported by Mike Vanderboegh a while back, open carry is defeated in South Carolina.

A bill that would allow South Carolinians to carry guns openly or concealed without first receiving the State’s sanction through a permit was killed by Republicans. It failed to advance out of the State’s Judiciary Committee — despite a large Republican majority — under strong opposition from Republican Senator Larry Martin.

The bill is called Constitutional Carry. Backers say its premise is based on the fact that the 2^nd Amendment is the only permit needed to carry a weapon.

Understanding the Republican statist position opposing the bill requires following tortured logic. It was best described by Martin himself in response to a constituent who asked him to vote to advance the bill, as reported by BenSwan.com.

“If the 2nd amendment has been as you interpret it, why hasn’t SC law reflected that for the last 140 years? I’m sorry but you are describing an ‘unlimited’ right that has never been the case with the 2nd Amendment. My view of the 2nd Amendment has always been the right to own guns and keep them in our homes, business, and property and not to wear a gun whenever to wherever I pleased.”

He just thinks that because he is a communist.  Comments at Mike’s place seem to indicate that it was the tourism lobby in Charleston that defeated the bill.  I make no claims to knowing the real story behind the bill’s demise.  But one thing is certain – Senator Larry Martin of Pickens is either the ring leader or a stooge and tool.  In any case, he is now the target.

Gregory Smith observes “South Carolina has a pro-gun governor and an anti-gun Senate. This defeat is shameful, this is the work of self-hating Southerners, scalawags that would rather kiss the carpetbaggers than pass pro-gun laws … I believe there’s gonna be political hell in South Carolina. I want to know who are the 17 bastards that voted against the 2nd Amendment, are any of them Republican? If so then it’s time to excommunicate them from public office.”

I think the retribution needs to be greater than that.  Mr. Martin needs to feel uncomfortable even being out in public.  He has now declared himself to be an enemy of the people.  And oh, by the way, as to the LEOs who helped to kill the bill, you are also an enemy of the people.

The Week:

Or, as one member of the range put it, “When it comes to gun laws, there’s the whole country, and then there’s New York.” While that may be a slight exaggeration, New York is indeed the polar opposite of lax states like Utah, Alaska, and Arizona, and is arguably the toughest in the country to own a gun. Here, no one is actually entitled to possess a firearm, at least not until the police give the go-ahead.

“Your right can never be taken away from you,” continued Leung, “but your privilege can be revoked at any given time. The NYPD is the licensing entity. They can add any kinds of stipulations they want. And they don’t have to explain why.”

It makes sense to keep guns on a short leash, Leung acknowledges, because “you want people to realize this is not a toy …

As we were talking, a middle-aged man in a grey suit who was carrying a black plastic case sat down at the table next to us. He unlocked it, removed a 9mm Beretta and nonchalantly placed the pistol on the table. Then he took out a box of bullets and started loading them into a magazine, one by one.

First a comment about putting a “box of bullets” on the table and filling his magazine.  They weren’t “bullets,” they were cartridges.  Second, this is extremely bad form.  No magazines get loaded until on range, with weapons pointed downrange.  This is true of everywhere I shoot, many places.  They have no concept of range safety.

Second, this range owner is a sad testimony to the mentality of pitiful New Yorkers who unwisely rely on the police for protection they cannot (and have no intention to) provide.  The police have usurped God’s authority, who commands the ability of self defense and defense of the little ones.

If the police have usurped God’s authority, the people have abdicated their responsibility and duty before the Almighty.  They will answer for that one awful day, along with collectivists who put them in that position to begin with.  Evil with the one doesn’t obviate the other.  I’m sorry for my New York readers who are good, honest folk and who don’t live in NYC.  But if you’re like this range owner, you deserve everything you get.

Hell will freeze over before I ever abdicate my God-given rights to own guns to a cop or judge.  Oh, and since I haven’t mentioned it in a few weeks, to Remington, Kimber and any other gun manufacturer in the empire state: why are you still there?

What will it take with you?  My most recent rifle purchase was a Winchester Model 70 rather than a Remington 700.  My Model 70 will be made right down the road from me in Columbia, S.C.

Rowan Scarborough of The Washington Times has written a lengthy piece on the battle of Wanat (or Want), that I covered in so much detail.  Hating on the M4 plays a prominent role in the article.  Part 1 is here, while part 2 is here.  A sampling of quotes follows.

The warrant officer said he and fellow Special Forces soldiers have a trick to maintain the M4A1 — the commando version: They break the rules and buy off-the-shelf triggers and other components and overhaul the weapon themselves.

“The reliability is not there,” Warrant Officer Kramer said of the standard-issue model. “I would prefer to use something else. If I could grab something else, I would” …

In 2002, an internal report from the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey said the M4A1 was prone to overheating and “catastrophic barrel failure,” according to a copy obtained by The Times …

A former Army historian who chronicled the infamous Battle of Wanat in Afghanistan, where nine U.S. soldiers died after their M4 carbines jammed, tells The Washington Times that his official account was altered by higher-ups to absolve the weapons and senior officers …

But the gun’s supporters have pointed to a single sentence in the official Wanat history issued in 2010 by the Army’s Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. It blamed the gun’s sustained rapid fire that day, not its design, for the malfunctions.

“This, not weapons maintenance deficiencies or inherent weaknesses in weapons design, was the reason a number of weapons jammed during the battle,” the sentence read.

Higher-ups inside Army command edited that sentence into the history, the report’s author says.

“That was not my conclusion,” said Douglas R. Cubbison, a former Army artillery officer and principal Wanat history author. “That was the Combat Studies Institute management that was driven from the chief of staff’s office to modify findings of that report to basically CYA [cover your ass] for the Army. You know how that works.

“Other soldiers have informally told me of similar problems they had with the M4 at high rates of fire,” said Mr. Cubbison, who is now curator of the Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum …

Higher-ups made other changes, such as removing much of the historian’s criticism of senior officers for not better preparing the outpost for an attack.

I have a copy of the (I believe unedited version) Cubbison report.  I agreed not to divulge the contents of the report except to comment on the content (rather than reproduce the content).

There were indeed many problems associated with Wanat, such as ensconcing a unit too small to defend the location, Taliban massing of forces (to approximately a Battalion size force), something I had tracked and discussed at length.  There was also the lack of logistical support, lack of (or untimely) CAS, lack of heavier weaponry, and delay of more than one year in setting up the FOB, allowing the enemy to make careful plans for his attack.

I scoured my e-mail thinking that I had exchanged mail with Mr. Cubbison, but I couldn’t find any.  In any case, I found Cubbison’s writing to be clear, well crafted, and well researched.  He is a good historian.  But on the issue of the M4 I disagree with Mr. Cubbison (although I will stipulated that it is extremely bad form to change the prose of another author just because it is uncomfortable to read it).

I’ve heard it all before, this idea that the gas-operated rotating bolt system allows the AK to cool better than the direct impingement system that Eugene Stoner designed.  This isn’t the whole story.  The AK-47 is also a less accurate design, is prone to malfunctions in the field (according to first hand reports I trust), is heavier and fires heavier ammunition, and as one crusty old Marine general said, plenty of Marines have survived a shot by 7.62 X 39.

Any weapon system has its advantages and disadvantages.  Give Soldiers an M14 and they will complain that it’s too heavy (like they did in the jungles of Vietnam).  They will complain that its ammunition is too heavy and they can’t carry as much (and they will be right, considering that kit is now around 80 pounds without ruck, 120-130 pounds for a couple of nights out in the field).

Does this mean that they shouldn’t carry an M14, Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70 for long range shooting?  No.  Should a DM (designated marksman) with the unit be prepared to shoot DM rifles?  Yes.

But shooting uphill should also be taught at the ranges (the report correctly notes the difficulties associated with being in a valley), and fire control should be taught and emphasized for a multitude of reasons.  As my son put it to me, “shooting 500 rounds in 30 minutes means that you’re shooting at everything, and at nothing.  And it also means that you’re making yourself a target.”

Compare the high rate of fire with one lesson learned from this Marine Corps engagement in Afghanistan when faced with massing of troops.

Fire Discipline: Engagements have lasted from two to forty hours of sustained combat.  Marines must be careful to conserve rounds because there may not be any way to replenish their ammunition and it is not practical or recommended to carry an excessive number of magazines.  Marines took a few moments to apply the fundamentals of marksmanship and this greatly improved the ratio of shots fired to enemy fighters killed.  Crew Served Weapons do not always need to be fired at the rapid rate.  Good application of shoulder pressure will tighten beaten zones and lead to effective suppression. Talking guns will help conserve ammunition.

Finally, Travis Haley has shown what can be accomplished with precision fire using a scoped AR-15 with a 20″ barrel.

The Eugene Stoner design is well-suited for CQB and up to 400 meters, firing with low recoil (thus allowing quick target reacquisition), and carrying large quantities of ammunition.  It is also known for the projectile’s yaw in flight and significant tissue damage.

Ridiculous counterinsurgency strategy and stupid flag and staff officers are responsible for the failures at Wanat.  Cubbison’s study is correct about that.  But the M4 (and AR-15) still stands out as a superior weapon system for all but extreme distance shooting.

As one last comment (and this one is perhaps the most interesting to me), take note of the post date of my article on Cubbison (it was four and a half years ago).  The Washington Times is just now getting around to writing about this, or perhaps just learning about the Cubbison study.

Main stream media really should pay more attention to blogs.  It makes them look very out of touch and slow to respond when they are so unaware of things going on with their competitors.

So retired Lt. General William Boykin has stirred up some controversy alleging that Jesus will return to earth carrying an AR-15.

Boykin, a retired Army lieutenant general who now works at the lobbying group, was paraphrasing the biblical prophecy in Revelation 19 that describes Jesus returning to Earth as a “warrior” with a “sharp sword.”

But he believes the scripture is due for an upgrade.

“I’ve checked this out — I believe that sword he’ll be carrying when he comes back is an AR-15,” Boykin told the crowd at the Pro-Family Legislators Conference in Dallas.

“The sword today is an AR-15. If you don’t have one, go get one. You’re supposed to have one. It’s biblical,” he said.

More fascinating is the reaction from one Lt. Col. Robert Bateman.  We’ve had our run-ins with gun control fanatic Bateman before (here and here).  In order to understand what Bateman says, you have to listen to Boykin.  Bateman says of Boykin:

Wow, seriously? You believe that the fellow who preached “turn the other cheek” and “the meek shall inherit” and all that other stuff from the Sermon on the Mount, is coming back with blood on his robe?

The Second Amendment is from God. Hmmm. But yet surely, all this Jesus shooting a 5.56 NATO standard bullet from an AR-15 sticking out of his mouth must surely be metaphor, right? I mean that is how it has been interpreted for centuries. And then Lieutenant General, Three Star General Boykin (Ret.) continues:

“I know, everybody says that was a metaphor. IT WAS NOT A METAPHOR! …And that was the beginning of the Second Amendment, that’s where the whole thing came from. … I know that’s where it came from. And the sword today is an AR-15, so if you don’t have one, go get one. You’re supposed to have one. It’s biblical.”

Bateman in his previous encounters with us pretends to be a historical scholar.  Here he is pretending to be a Biblical scholar.  And he is intentionally conflating what Boykin said.  He (Boykin) wasn’t referring to Revelation 19 and whether it was metaphorical.  He was referring to whether the notion of bearing weapons for self protection (as Jesus discussed in Luke 22:36) is metaphorical.

Of course, just a little research could have shown Bateman that the idea of God as warrior is thoroughgoing in the Old Testament and a motif that is carried into the New Testament as well.  Jesus was no doormat or pacifist (see Matthew 10:34-36), and he certainly used violence when it was called for (Matthew 21:12).

Finally, we’ve covered how the American revolution has its roots in continental Calvinism.  I cannot speak for Boykin and what he sees as metaphorical or literal.  To me, Jesus upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), and so doesn’t need an AR-15.

But He certainly didn’t intend to dissuade people from self defense (with Boykin I assert that it is a Biblical duty), and imagining Jesus as a long haired peacenik commits the error discussed by John Frame of applying an exclusive reduction (rather than an emphasizing reduction) to God.  Or perhaps Bateman has never read John Frame.