Christian pastor Chuck Baldwin says it’s a “Biblical requirement” that every American adult (and even some younger than 18) own an AR-15 or similar assault-style weapon.
“Many, many gun owners do not even own an AR-type rifle,” Baldwin says in a Facebook post last month. “Whether they realize it or not, these people are effectively DISARMED. The handgun, shotgun, or bolt-action rifle might be fine for sporting purposes and for defending oneself against a lone gunman, but they are wholly ineffective in protecting society against government (any government) aggression.”
“Unless one is restricted by age or handicap, EVERY qualified adult and teenager 18 years old and older (and really there is no valid reason why teenagers younger than 18 shouldn’t be able to possess AR-type rifles–if they have a competent father or mother properly instructing them) should own an AR-type rifle and be practiced with it. EVERY ADULT. If there are four adults in the house, there should be four ARs in the house (and one in the pick up truck or car).”
Right Wing Watch on Monday pointed to Baldwin’s remarks “on Sheila Zilinsky’s podcast over the weekend, where he declared that any Christian who does not own the equivalent of an AR-15 assault rifle ‘has denied the Christian faith’ and is ‘worse than a heathen.'”
Citing a passage from 1 Timothy, Baldwin asserted that every adult has “a duty to provide for your family, but you cannot provide protection for your family without being equipped to do so.”
“Therefore, you must have the means of self-defense,” Baldwin said. “And in our society today, that means a firearm in the similitude of an AR-15. Without that, you are not in a position, you are not even able to protect not just your family and your house, but your neighbors, your community around you; that we, as a community of people—that’s the militia—are given the God-given responsibility to protect our communities. That is a biblical requirement.”
Listen:
Pastor Baldwin may not mean every American adult. He used to write a column for the white nationalist and “alt-right” site VDARE. One from 2015 asked, “Will SCOTUS’s Gay Marriage Reasoning Lead To The Abolition Of State Gun Control Laws?”
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