Greeter in church wouldn't leave my gun alone

Ethang said:

I also would NEVER have allowed him to handle my weapon. Offer to take him to the range sometime, but pull my carry piece out in a public setting for show and tell, never.

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Nframecollector said:

Church security? The guy sounds like a jerk. I didn't think concealed carry was allowed in a church?

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Protected One said:

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It depends on where you live. Different states have different laws. In some state you CAN carry in church - provided you have permission of the Senior Pastor.

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GaryS said:

I think it's a bit odd, this whole state laws forbidding carry of firearms in houses of worship. It should be up to the people who run the particular religious facility, not the government.

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Smoke said:

Like most of you I got pissed, mostly because he didn’t respect my boundaries. So I went and asked a friend of mine how I should handle it; now, I don’t consider myself to be a been there done that guy but I am lucky enough to have been trained by and have some friends that are and this guy is one of them.

When I told my friend what happened I fully expected him to see it my way and tell me to break the guy’s wrist next time he reached for my gun. Instead master Yoda looked me right in the eye and said “You’re fault it was. “ “Handled the first incident correctly you did not.”

Seriously what my friend said was that if I had correctly handled the first incident the second never would have happened. If I honestly believed that he was a threat (I did not) I should have employed active weapons retention techniques if I didn't think he was a threat there was no point in making a big issue out of it He said that by threatening the guy I made it a challenge and all but dared the guy to try it again. He told me I need to take the guy to the side and very calmly and very clearly explain my boundaries to him and why what he was doing wasn’t OK.

So I spoke to Chucky at church the next night . The first thing I did was apologize for raising my voice. He admitted that his behavior was out of line and acknowledged that what he did was unsafe.

I told him that I understood that he got it but in the interest of safety I want to make it clear that grabbing another person’s firearm was unsafe and I’d rather he didn’t grab mine in the future. He denied that he ever had done so but said he wouldn’t in the future and I let it go.

I don’t know that this next was the right thing to do but he still seemed very excited by the fact that I was armed and I decided to take the mystery out of it. I asked him to close the door to the security office and told him I was going to show him my gun.

Explaining everything I was doing as I did it I drew my pistol, showed him how I was removing the magazine and clearing the chamber, showed him the empty chamber and explained why I was showing it to him and handed him the weapon.

He was like a kid on Christmas, He seemed very impressed that it was a Smith and Wesson (apparently he’s heard of them but never seen one) he asked a few questions about the gun like “is it heavy?” to which I replied “You’re holding it, you tell me.” and went to great lengths to point out that he wasn’t pointing it at me as he handed it back.

You can say what you will but I must admit the guy hasn't so much as acted like I even had a gun since

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Smoke said:

To me "public setting" means I did it in the main lobby of the church. That's not what happened, we were behind locked doors in the security office.

I am not normally in the habit of pulling out my piece for show and tell in fact I have never done it before but in this instance I feel that it was the right call because it demystified the gun to him. He looks at me now and there’s no mystery he knows what I’m carrying.

I spoke to him this morning, we shook hands, said hello, talked about some stuff that is going on in our church and I dropped off my tithe and he didn’t so much as mention firearms once

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Practical said:

NO you did not make the right call.

There is no reason to be playing with your carry gun in any setting period. Its not a toy for a gun fetish experience.

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SMSgt said:

I base my "concern" about church security teams on the legalities, not the skills of those involved. There is a huge legal difference in a permit to carry to any individual and the legal standing of those providing a "armed security service," even though that "service" may be on a voluntary basis. Naturally, such concerns will vary from state to state, based on each state's statutes.

Some states may disallow church firearm carry--period, some allowing it with a permit, and some with no restrictions at all, leaving the any ban decision on the church itself.

Florida stature 493 permits only LE and properly licensed individuals (ie: "G" license, not the individual CWFL issued by the state) to carry firearms in security work--even as a volunteer.

While I have no qualms with either an armed security team or individuals carrying with a permit, I only advise those considering forming "armed security teams" to consult proper legal sources prior to doing so.

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ChattanoogaPhil said:

Here's a guy pulling out his carry gun for a demystify lesson.

Notice that he makes sure the gun is empty, and has someone else double check that its empty right before he shoots himself.

Gentlemen, best to keep those carry guns holstered, always.

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Smoke said:

As I said it’s not something I’m in the habit of doing and it very likely (given I’ve been carrying since 1997 and have only done it once) will never happen again

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