Armed in Houses of Worship

I’m not the church going type, but I don’t think I’ve been in a church unarmed since I got my carry permit 16 years ago. The fact is they are juicy targets for whack jobs looking for headlines. Same for festivals and other public gatherings.

Gun-toting rabbi says congregants should arm themselves.

I couldn’t agree more. I get a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of guns in churches, but the fact is that the quickest way to end a mass shooting is accurate and prompt return fire. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the cops or someone else. Carefully aimed bullets are carefully aimed bullets, and despite what idiots in the media think, these are trainable scenarios where armed citizens usually prevail when around. Other than the emotional reaction, there’s nothing special about a church as a place that makes it different for carrying than any other place.

11 thoughts on “Armed in Houses of Worship”

  1. No doubt! I carry wherever I can, even in places that don’t like it. I carried in church for my wedding, and so did all my groomsmen!

    Note that from the USA Today article you linked to earlier, the rampage lasted 20 minutes. The argument from some is that since some cops got killed, what good would an armed guard or a person carrying do?

    Well first, it distracts the killer from shooting at the defenseless. Even taking 15 seconds of his attention could mean more people get away.

    Second, it can and often does end the spree much quicker. Either the killer leaves or he gets shot.

    Third, there is the deterrent effect. An armed House of Worship is target not that appetizing.

    1. “Note the call for gun control is missing”

      My theory is that other than the Dem candidates who have already staked out gun control as part of their individual campaigns, the D party has gotten a little smarter and decided to shut up about it until after the election. They may have caught on that it’s a far bigger vote loser, than vote gainer.

      The other thing I noticed is they used the whiplash around the Kavanaugh confirmation as an opportunity to stop stupidly crowing about a “blue wave,” and to adopt an “elections too close to call” commentary, which is more likely to get their base to turn out to vote, than if they believe they have the election sewn up.

      1. Dems do what the GOP does: play to their base for elections, then get the realities once they recognize what it takes to hold their seat. If they win Congress, they already know extreme gun control overreach puts them back to minority status. I can see at most another half assed UBC push at most.

  2. The “what good would an armed guard have done when the cops got shot” is filling my FB feed today.

    Gunfights are, if you’ll pardon the expression, crapshoots. We have more than one example of armed guards and/or other armed people interfering with and stopping attacks on other houses of worship. These are never mentioned.

    As for the “blame the victim” aspect – would it have been “blaming the victim” if this guy had used Molotovs and the sprinkler system hadn’t worked?

  3. Since attacks on houses of worship have happened many times in the last few decades, we already know of several instances where the attacker was either deterred, stopped, or successfully resisted by an armed defender.

    It’s the old old story. When seconds matter the police are only minutes away.

  4. I let the lay leaders in my church know that if I’m in the pulpit, there’s a gun on my hip. And I encourage parishioners who carry to do so in church. For me, it all comes down to a question of stewardship? If the church tells people to be good stewards of their financial resources, shouldn’t we be telling them to be even better stewards of their lives and thay of their children?

  5. Our congregation suffered a burglary of their cars in the parking lot during a service several years ago. Since then, we have had everyone lock their cars. After the Texas church shooting, we started locking the building doors once the service had started. We have several CCW elders who are now authorized to take turns standing guard over the main entrance during the service to let late-arriving members in and surveil late-coming strangers. These men are well-trained and sober-minded gentlemen. We once again enjoy fellowship with a sure sense of peace and security.
    FWIW – Arnie

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