Jesus told his followers to turn the other cheek–not to blow their enemies away with assault weapons. The connection between guns and Christianity among American right-wingers is, therefore, more than a little illogical. Why does it persist?
It is a matter of historical accident. White Christian men used guns against the decidedly not Christian Native Americans to win and settle our country. Guns consequently became associated with Jesus, power, and self-reliance. Those are the pillars of today’s GOP.