Latter-day Saint scholars examine gun violence and whether the Utah-based faith should speak out more powerfully on this “moral issue.”
• I cannot see how it can’t be a moral issue when we see this kind of proliferation [of killings]. Now, how we think that we’re going to deal with it, what we think in terms of gun ownership and responsibilities of gun owners, are definitely up for debate from lots of different viewpoints.
President Henry B. Eyring of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lowers his head while speaking at the Mountain Meadows Massacre Memorial site on Sept. 11, 2007., on the 150-year anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre when President [Henry B.] Eyring went down to this memorial and specifically talked about the church’s response. … I actually have his words right here. “The truth as we have come to know it saddens us deeply.
Do you think that one of the reasons why the church is hesitant to make any big statement is fear of alienating members who own guns and strenuously point to the Second Amendment?