Since the tragedies at Virginia Tech--the post-homecoming party in Crandon, Wisconsin--the Westroads shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska--in Colorado (Youth With A Mission training center in Arvada and New Life mega-church in Colorado Springs)--and at Northern Illinois University, I've been seriously thinking about exercising my Second Amendment right. That is, purchasing a handgun for self defense/preservation purposes. I could be wrong, but the state I live in (Maryland) has a lot of challenges with regard to gun ownership. My other problem is that I'm a Roman Catholic Christian. Based on passages from both the Old and New Testament that pertain to defending oneself and others from harm (the ones that I've seen online), I found that there is nothing wrong with defending yourself and those around you if your life and their lives are threatened. One particular passage is the part where Jesus tells Peter, in verse 26:52 of the Book Of Matthew, to "Put thy sword back in its place. For he who lives by the sword will perish by the sword." Some people say that Peter using his sword to defend Jesus from arrest was inappropriate because Peter was preventing Jesus' mission to be crucified and to die for the redemption of our sins, hence, Peter being told to put his sword away. So now my question is when Jesus commanded Peter to put his sword back in its place (its sheath), did Jesus:
A.) really mean it (as in 'This is not the time to use your sword. There will be other times on when it's OK to use it)?
or
B.) really mean get rid of the sword forever (as in throwing it away or destroying it)?
Please explain why you pick A or B as your answer. And based on such answers, I can determine for myself whether I can proceed on exercising my 2nd Amendment right (knowing the gun laws, taking the training courses, getting the permit, etc.) or abandon it altogether. Also, feel free to correct me if I got some details wrong in the above paragraph and to offer me some advice. I'd really appreciate your feedback. Thanks.
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