Carrying in Church

[norman428]

Do you carry in a church? Why you should.

Not sure if this article has been posted before, but I found the information on it very interesting. I did some research on church shootings after being "spotted" CC in a church, and asked why I felt the need to carry in there because its a "safe place".

Deadly Force Incidents (DFI's) at Faith-Based Organizations in the United States (includes abductions, attacks, suspicious deaths, suicides and deadly force intervention / protection)

633 since 1999.

The website goes on to break it down into specific incidents and the different types of churches they occur in.

Ministry Violence Statistics

And yes, I am aware of the rules about carrying in a church with a school in it.

 

[brian.derby]

thank You... I found this website a few weeks ago as well... eye opening. My church has an open carry security team and I feel quite safe there.....

 

[Burnsy]

thank You... I found this website a few weeks ago as well... eye opening. My church has an open carry security team and I feel quite safe there.....

While I think that's a great measure, you should still consider carrying yourself there if you don't already. You are responsible for your own life. LEO's and soldier's don't leave their firearms at home because they will be around others who didn't.

 

[jkaetz]

Most places of worship welcome and offer assistance to anyone. That will naturally bring some questionable people around. It only makes sense to be prepared.

 

[TTravis]

In this poor economy, I have seen more and more desperate people showing up at the front office of our church. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable when someone starts demanding money. We try to help, but we never hand out cash. Sometimes we have some food available, and we have a donation closet with some clothing and stuff. There have been several times, without a word ever spoken about guns, that our church secretary was glad I was around. We try to be compassionate, but if we help someone, they have to show what they are doing to help themselves. I admire our secretaries skill at handling several situations every day. There are those who have a lot more faith than I do that God will protect them. I believe that God gave me the means to protect myself and others and He expects me to do so. What is sad is that so many good people legitimately need help.

 

[brian.derby]

While I think that's a great measure, you should still consider carrying yourself there if you don't already. You are responsible for your own life. LEO's and soldier's don't leave their firearms at home because they will be around others who didn't.

Yes I do carry there, as I am on the security team.

 

[Rsmith]

yes, because their is evil in the world.

 

[brian.derby]

In this poor economy, I have seen more and more desperate people showing up at the front office of our church. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable when someone starts demanding money. We try to help, but we never hand out cash. Sometimes we have some food available, and we have a donation closet with some clothing and stuff. There have been several times, without a word ever spoken about guns, that our church secretary was glad I was around. We try to be compassionate, but if we help someone, they have to show what they are doing to help themselves. I admire our secretaries skill at handling several situations every day. There are those who have a lot more faith than I do that God will protect them. I believe that God gave me the means to protect myself and others and He expects me to do so. What is sad is that so many good people legitimately need help.

This is subject material that we on our team consider each and everyday. our staff too deals with this, and without too many details, has the means to deal with any situation that should arise. There was a time that certain establishments were hallowed ground, i.e., churches, schools, even hospitals.

Today, however, brings people who have no respect for anything and will do their dirty work wherever they happen to be. There are even those who target soft targets such as churches and, as we have seen, schools. I have my own opinion as to why this is so, but this is not the place for such discussions, however, the one discussion I do support is that of the armed, law-abiding citizen.

As far as those who legitimately need help, I pray that God's people have truly brought the tithe to the store house, and these men and women of God, protected by Him who is the Great Protector, discern and are able to bless those people that they may see that God is good.

 

[Bennettjh]

Every sunday and wednesday. I know I've posted that before somewhere. Lots of different walks of life there. We try to help and love them all but they have to help themselves too. Plus when the offering is taking up it gets put in around me and 3 other people. We've discussed that they could have the money but if we felt that they were going to cause severe bodily harm to anyone then we would handle that situation accordingly. 3 out of 4 of us carry firearms.

 

[brian.derby]

Every sunday and wednesday. I know I've posted that before somewhere. Lots of different walks of life there. We try to help and love them all but they have to help themselves too. Plus when the offering is taking up it gets put in the xxxxxxxx. We've discussed that they could have the money but if we felt that they were going to cause severe bodily harm to anyone then we would handle that situation accordingly. 3 out of 4 of us carry firearms.

Sir, I would highly recomend that you edit your post and delete the location of your offering.... we law abiding citizens are not the only ones reading these posts. As security for my church, we never discuss the details of our system and even our new team members are unaware of all the details of the operation, I would suggest the same for yours. If you wish, you can private message me......

 

[Burnsy]

Yes I do carry there, as I am on the security team.

NICE!

 

[THard6]

i do carry a gun at church, and always will as long as i can get away with it.

 

[possumpacker]

i trust my soul to Jesus and my life to smith&wesson. yep i carry at church.

 

[sepe]

Haven't been inside a church for for anything other than a funeral or a wedding (same thing, right?) since I was about 5 or 6...so nope.

 

[Rickshaw]

Yes. Always. You never know what can happen in today's climate,

 

[Dobber]

Obviously (in general) none of us are any less safe today than we were last week. Yet I still feel a greater sense of danger and have felt like to leave my house without a handgun would be equivalent to driving without my wallet or going to work without my cell phone. My wife, becoming more pro-ownership by the day, is still not pro-carry. I found myself getting a subtle pat down "hug" in church today. I wasn't carrying...it just didn't strike me as a place where I might want to have a weapon on my person. When I realized what she was doing I got self-conscious and started evaluating my surroundings. Large open area, 400+ people, three exits within 50 yards but with no cover. Stain-glassed double-paned windows at 5' that a child (my child) would fit through if I pushed him.

I concluded that I (as well as my wife) would certainly be killed but MIGHT be able to conceal my boy or get him through the window.

I'm still not sure I can legitimize carrying in church. I can't put my finger on it but for whatever reason I feel like this place should be a safehaven from reality and that anything which might take place before the alter will not be altered by me or my daily carry.

I'm not looking for "Yes, I carry in church" or "No, why would you do that?" I hope some of you have a reaction to, or share, my instinct/hesitance to carry at the alter of God. When I carry my gun I do so with the intention of protecting myself, my family, and the freedom and safety of my fellows at any cost. Therefore, my weapon becomes a tool which will, when used correctly, foster death...this is of course contradictory to most of the messages in the New Testament. I'm comfortable violating that message in my day-to-day where others are not respectful of that message...but for some inexplicable reason I feel like being ready to take a life in a House of God is a much more dire step away from humanity then I am ready to take.

What say you all? What is the moral and spiritual impact of carrying, and therefore committing to using, a weapon in a House of God? Hopefully minimal purple here.....

 

[Hammerhead]

Personal choice. However, what makes you think a church is any safer than anywhere else?

Google "church shooting" and find out just how many people think that a target rich environment is easy pickings. I also recommend that you search here for discussions of this topic.

I carried in church tonight, just like I do every time I go to church.

 

[KW730]

In my opinion, when my LTCH comes I will carry everywhere I go. Evil knows no bounds. Evil does not respect sacred places, or others' pursuit of happiness. I can't imagine the feeling I would have if I were to leave my gun at home on the day that evil decided to visit me.

 

[Manan]

Currently my church forbids the carrying of weapons in the church building. My position is I follow the rules of the church.

But spiritually I am not concerned about carrying a weapon into the Lords house. To me the concealed weapon is an instrument of protection and comfort, not death.

I am desirous to carrying concealed in my church building as I love those in my congregation and I would hate to see anything violent ever happen to them. I would hate to be in a position to NOT be able to come to their defense in the case of a disturbed person attempted harm them.

 

[Sylvain]

Carrying and using a gun to save lives inside of a church is no different than doing it outside of a church.
I dont see anything "evil" about carrying in a church.Letting innocent people get killed because you decided not to bring a gun to church, when you had a way to do it, would be the "evil" thing to do in my opinion.
For centuries people have been carrying swords in churches, today they carry guns.
Even the Pope's bodyguards are packing heat in church.