Churches Exploring the Benefit of Guns in the Hands of Parishioners

Most high profile churches will have armed security in their services. You may not see a uniformed officer, but it's very likely there will be off-duty officers or other armed security members in strategic locations in the sanctuary.

Other churches are considering similar measures, even if it's only church members with concealed carry permits:

Violence in churches is on the rise, experts say.

As more shootings at houses of worship make headlines, churches around the country are stepping up security, training their staff on how to detect and confront violent assailants, and asking congregants with licenses to carry guns during services.


That's what brought 15 Southern California church leaders to Garden Grove last week to attend an "Interfaith Intruder Response" course.

"I think that we're living in a violent time and we have a duty to ensure the safety of our flock," said Fred Rodriguez, a senior pastor at Elsinore First Assembly in Lake Elsinore.

Rodriguez said he came to the seminar because he worries that church violence will get worse. "The Scripture says we're living the last days," the clergyman said. "A person doesn't have to look too far to see evidence."

"There are practical things we can do," he added, "and we let God take care of the rest." ...

Some of the churches that have been the scenes of recent shootings appear to have been targeted because of their stances on political issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. Last year, a gunman who police said had a "stated hatred of the liberal movement" killed two people during a children's performance at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville because the church advocates for gay rights.

Other shootings have been acts of domestic violence that just happened to occur in a church. That was the case last year when a man shot and killed his estranged wife at St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church in Clifton, N.J.

Synagogues and black churches, frequent targets of racial vandalism and violence, have long had security measures in place. Even so, some are now boosting their efforts in the wake of several high-profile hate crimes, including this month's shooting at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

"For us, it's an old threat that's just lifting its head again," said Paul Goldenberg, the director of the Secure Community Network, which provides security training to Jewish communities. "We have to do all we can."

No matter the shooter's motivation, churches are easy targets, experts say.

"During a church service, you've got a large number of people in a very confined and close space, and an armed gunman can put a lot of lead down the range in a very short amount of time," said Greg Crane, who owns a security consultant firm called Response Options.

"If the devil comes to visit someday," he asked, "how ready are you going to be?"

This meeting was held in California which means that it's pretty unlikely that you'll have civilians in your church with concealed carry permits. More likely it will have to be an off-duty officer or other security professional with a permit to carry.

In many states quite a few members of a church might have carry permits due to less draconian regulations in those jurisdictions. Given that the person with the permit has to undergo certain training and background checks, I have no problem with it at all. I'm not the least bit threatened by the presence of a gun in the hands of a good citizen.

At least if something happens there's the possibility that someone can stop it and limit the damage.

When I was in church insurance we had to ask our clients if they used armed security. Very few did, but I expect that will change.