My dear Wormwood,

It is a surprise to me to hear that the wife has taken the unusual step of buying a gun. Normally, it is the men who have an unusual fascination with these obviously phallic implements. Is suspect, well, more than suspect, that it is a result of her own guilty conscience. Feeling paranoia is a common human reaction to feeling guilt. The relationship between the two is worthy of much more study and observation.

Guns, as I should point out, have been an invaluable boon to our cause. A proliferation of them, wherever it is, leads to the happy result of producing more dead humans. This is always a good thing. Dead Christians (actual Christians) are good because they can no longer be a force for the Enemy in the world. Other dead humans are good because we can always use more food.

The beauty of the gun is its appealing lack of immediacy. In this, it is the successor to the bow and arrow, and the crossbow, both of which are capable of killing from a distance. This lack of immediacy - in which the human in not directly involved with the physical dying of the victim - enables humans to kills more easily, and with more justification.

Humans, particularly the American species, are terribly amusing in their attempts to defend or downplay the actual nature and purpose of these weapons; which is, of course, to kill. Ostensibly, to kill animals for food, since killing was easier from a distance and it would be harder to spook the prey. In some places, they continue to serve this exact function. In other places, they serve to kill otherwise naïve and defenseless animals for 'sport.' I do not sense that your Charges are interested much is this, but I feel fairly certain that their Fundamentalist friends probably do, and probably have many weapons of their own.

Increasingly, the number of animals killed by these weapons pales in comparison to the number of humans killing each other with them. In this capacity, the gun has an unusual felicity. Bowed weapons, even ones capable of firing multiple arrows, have a slow reload time. Some larger guns - rifles and shotguns - have this same disadvantage. Other guns do not. Some of them are capable of firing round upon round upon round - reducing whatever target aimed at to a pulp. These weapons are less for killing even, than they are for total annihilation.

Still, to be clear, make no mistake that these weapons have only one purpose, and that is to kill. Americans like to talk about using them for defensive purposes, but what that generally means is 'killing the other person first.' There is simply no other purpose for them. They are used in war and police work for precisely this reason; and criminals use them for the same.

To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever turned a gun into a plowshare.

For your Charges, now that this weapon has entered the house (an entire host of ethical problems with it), you have the opportunity to sow much discord. Now that the mother's guilt and paranoia have manifested into an action, this in turn will affect her relationships with everyone in the how, whether they know about the weapon or not.

Additionally, if you are able, see if you can lead the littlest one into finding it. We have had very good luck recently with children and these weapons, and no opportunity should be wasted.

Infernally yours,
Screwtape