“Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you. The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.” Psalm 5:1-6

School Shooting Number 3:

“On January 10, 2018, school officials at Grayson College Criminal Justice Center (Denison, Texas) reported that a bullet from an accidental discharge went through a classroom wall, came out through the other side and exited through a window. Vice President of Business Services Giles Brown said a criminal justice club advisor was showing two students how to use a computerized firearms simulator before the incident occurred. He said the instructor took his live weapon and put it in a box so it would not be confused with the training weapon. We’re told that the box did not have a lock on it, and that the instructor later left the room, taking the training fire arm with him. “One of the students thought the instrument inside the box was the training instrument so she picked it up,” Brown said. Then, Brown said, she fired it at a target on the wall, realizing her mistake instantly. “Shot a hole in the wall,” Brown said. “Crossed over and broke a window.” (http://www.kxii.com, News 12)

As we learn over, and over, and over again, it is easy to forget how stringent we must be with safety measures when handling guns. Every few weeks there is another story about a child who has found a gun lying around the house and accidentally shoots him/herself or another person. Or we hear of another story where a child brandishing a “realistic toy gun” gets shot by a police officer.

I grew up with guns in the house. I took a hunter safety course. I went hunting with my father and grandfather. I also grew up with respect for the inherent danger of guns – all guns. Our guns were locked behind a gun cabinet door – and no one was allowed to handle a gun without my father’s presence. That was then – this is now. Too many children are unsupervised for too many hours throughout the week. And too many guns are left lying around the home without any precautions – without any rules – without any supervision.

“Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray”, says the Psalmist. We often cry to G-d when tragedies happen. Some mistakes are harmless – others end lives – and yet mistakes are made every day by everyone. It takes just one mistake with handling a gun to change lives forever. “We never thought this would happen to us”, the comment is made over, and over, and over again. Hopefully, that comment is made where no one gets hurt – rather than at another funeral.

Pastor Dave