Guns do not keep the peace.

People with love in their hearts keep the peace. People with fear and hatred in their hearts sometimes use guns to kill other people, whereas people whose hearts are full of love don’t do that.

Guns are not designed as a peacekeeping tool; guns are designed to kill. Killing is their sole purpose and usage and therefore cannot be used to keep any sort of peace. Peace is not the absence of war, it is the ability to retain love and calm in our hearts despite the craziness of life around us. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Albert Einstein both described peace as requiring the presence of justice. Justice requires the absence of hatred: the presence of love.

The idea that guns are a good tool for peace is an idea that needs to be revealed for what is it: a lie. Love for others is the only tool for peace that exists. Without sufficient love in our hearts, we fear others and feel the need for a defense against them and their ideas. Some people are so afraid, bigoted, and/or unloving that they feel safe when they have a weapon that could kill other people, but that is never really the answer to those internal maladies. Fear, bigotry and hatred are not overcome by owning or using the tools of destruction.

Guns bring terror and death, shattering peace to pieces. In this modern day, diplomacy is the most effective path toward peace. When two humans who have love in their hearts speak to each other, there is no need for a gun to protect either one of them. However, if one or both of them have hatred in their hearts, then there is no weapon that can bring them peace.

Imagine the power of love without a weapon to back it up or enforce it. Imagine the power of words and actions that build that kind of trust between humans. Imagine the power that forgiveness and amnesty and generosity and care have to change a hurting, hateful heart. Love heals, it does not wound.

Peace is not kept by guns. Guns are kept by those who do not have enough love in their hearts for their fellow men, women and children in the hope that keeping those guns will defend them against hatred.

But guns cannot defend against hate, only love can do that. Guns are not needed for peace. Love keeps the peace.

Maren Mecham