Does The Bible Say Anything About Guns or Gun Rights?

When Nehemiah was trying to rebuild Jerusalem, they had enemies that surrounding them who were trying to discourage and subvert the work. These enemies of the Jews were such a threat to the workers that Nehemiah ensured that “neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand” (Neh 4:23). Just like the Early Americans had Minute Men, so these men were armed at all times and ready for action at a moment’s notice. They had every reason to bear arms and every right to defend themselves in the rebuilding of the walls since they had King Artaxerxes’ permission to do so (Neh 2). Having the workers surrounded by security forces, they were able to successfully complete the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and amazingly, “in fifty-two days” (Neh 6:15)! Having the deterrent of force or a strong show of force made the enemy hesitant to invade and stop the rebuilding project. This doesn’t mean that we ever take justice into our own hands because Paul writes “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom 12:19). Instead, it’s better that we leave things up to law enforcement to enforce the law, however, there is no reason we can’t defend ourselves, so every American who can legally bear arms should be also be able to do so.