At what cost?

I once had a conversation with a man who loved his guns. I asked, “Don’t you have any concern or compassion for the thirty thousand people who die every year by guns?” He responded: “That’s the price we have to pay for our freedom. Freedom is not free.” Unpacking his creed makes it much clearer for the average citizen to understand: “Thirty thousand Americans must die every year so I can get any gun I want at any time.” He speaks not for himself alone; he speaks for an Empire. That Empire is not worried about convicted felons, the mentally deranged, drug addicts, or terrorists getting hold of lethal weapons. What terrifies them is the one in ten million chance that a small restriction could be placed on any gun in America.—America and Its Guns: A Theological Expose, page 133

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Can you say idolatry? Or, at the bare minimum, wrong focus? Or self-centeredness?
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