Concealed carry at church?

[LET-CA]

As I sat in church one week I noticed a "bulge" in my buddies jacket. I raised my eyes with a questioning look at him and he whispered that he ALWAYS carries. It just took me a second to remember that he was FBI. I smiled at him and said good. We never brought it up again but I was always comfortable knowing that he was there.

 

[bobkarno]

I don't leave my car insurance or my life insurance at home when I go to church, and as long as they don't post signs I won't leave my pistol at home either.

 

[OLDFED]

Apparently, GOD has Lightning Bolts and the Devil carries a Trident. My .44 Special sort of evens things out and I refuse to become a victim!

 

[CowboyCop]

The only places I don't CCW are; court houses, jails (rarely go there since being retired from LE) and Federal Buildings with security at entrances. You won't know I'm ever armed unless you need to see the business end of what I carry and then I hope I can fade off before that is necessary.

 

[edprof]

In Arkansas it is not legal to carry in a worship assembly, even with a CCW permit, which I and another elder have. I have discusssed it with our pulpit minister and he would favor having a selected few of us carry, especially on Sunday mornings. If a terrorist showed up we would be 150 sitting ducks.

A measure to allow concealed carry for permit holders in worship assemblies was narrowly defeated in the Arkansas legislature last spring. Too bad.

 

[Mphstiger1981]

A few years ago our church had a ministry that helped to employ some men who had been in prison for non-violent crimes in an attempt to help them become normal citizens, and give them a second chance at a clean start. One of the men had some problems taking things that did not belong to him, and he eventually had to be fired. The typical threats were made and he was shown the door. Just one day later, our pastor's nearby home was broken into. The house was turned upside down, vandalized and several hunting rifles and a family heirloom shotgun were stolen. In addition to the theft, the burglar also beat the family dog. The guy responsible was eventually arrested and charged, but none of the guns were ever recovered.

These days, we have a plainclothes armed security team in the church during Sunday services. I also understand from other members that my pastor has obtained his Handgun Carry Permit and likes to go armed outside of the Worship services.

If I'm there, I'm armed. I'm not a member of the security team, but I am personally responsible for me and my family getting in, staying safe while there and getting out the same. Not going to be Rambo, I'll let the professionals handle any problems which develop and as long as they have it handled, no one will ever know the difference.

 

[mattallamerican]

it would be a good idea to be armed while worshiping just in case some good god fearing muslims came to cleanse the earth.

 

[Joeygun]

Seven or eight years ago my wife attended a church in a neighboring town where we lived. The church had at least two incidents of strange subjects entering through an unlocked front door and entering the parish house. The subjects both ended up in an office area where collections are counted and administrative duties are performed. They were escorted out and it was learned that they alleged that they were looking for a "hand out" so to speak. Fast forward to a few months later and a subject that local LEO's call "the missing link" enters the church after a Saturday evening mass and approaches the Priest as he is closing up. "The Missing Link" is agitated and verbally hostile for unknown reasons and an usher who is on scene intervenes and escorts him out. Those incidents and some missing cash resulted in the development of a small detail of extra ushers at each Mass. The extra ushers were all civil service employees locally and that is all that needs to be said. The guy who organized the detail had meetings and coffee for us every few weeks to keep us on board.

My wife and I moved to our current town and we attend still attend Mass, but at a much smaller church. I am proud to say we have two little charmers that we take with us and I could not be more proud. There have not been any issues regarding security that I know of but I realize that they can happen anywhere at any time.

With all of this being said I carry my off-duty/BUG gun on my ankle every time I go to Mass (Glock 27...be kind brothers and sisters, for I mean well). I kneel with one leg up and one leg down to try to conceal it as much as possible while doing the sit, kneel, and stand routine.

I often ponder over whether or not anyone has ever noticed it, if they know I am on the job, or if they would even care. I don't question my actions as being in violation of any church law, state law, or a church teaching...I feel it is the right thing to do and that HE wants me to be a steward of men and a protector of HIS flock.

What it all comes down to for me is this, my family is my everything, and church, worship, Mass, whatever you call it is the greatest peace in my family's week...no one is going to take that away.......

JJB

 

[Sayoc01]

Yep,every Sunday,351PD in a Andrews Pocket holster......
Seems to me,there is a situation in the Bible where the LORD told the leader to choose men for BATTLE,he was told to choose those who...drank water from their hand,while holding their weapon .......NOT those who laid there weapon down & drank! I'll keep carrying...only one Deacon knows I carry & he's HOMELAND !
Jim

 

[mattallamerican]

ill 2nd that

Yep,every Sunday,351PD in a Andrews Pocket holster......
Seems to me,there is a situation in the Bible where the LORD told the leader to choose men for BATTLE,he was told to choose those who...drank water from their hand,while holding their weapon .......NOT those who laid there weapon down & drank! I'll keep carrying...only one Deacon knows I carry & he's HOMELAND !
Jim

you cant say it much better than that

 

[jeffrey]

My rabbi once asked me whether I carried in synagogue (as it once came out that I shoot) and when I answered "yes," he just nodded and said "good." He never mentioned it again. I believe that there are a couple of other men who also carry in my synagogue, but we have never discussed it.

A gentleman with whom I shoot IDPA is a local pastor who believes that it is his duty to protect his flock and he always carries when conducting services.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

Amen brother.

I sure do like my non-denominational church.

I sure do like my non-denominational Smith & Wesson.

ECS

 

[Bratastic007]

My S&W R8 is a Roman Catholic.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

My S&W R8 is a Roman Catholic.

Was it sprinkled?

ECS

 

[Joni_Lynn]

When the pastor starts the conversation with
'why do you need' I can just tell the conversation isn't going to be going his way.
This is America and a law abiding citizen doesn't need to have a 'need' to own a gun. If they don't understand that then they lack the reasoning ability to have an intelligent conversation on the matter.

 

[venomballistics]

with choir rehearsals at odd hours at a church on the fringe of one of the highest crime rate areas in town, you can bet the choir members have an armed escort

 

[opaul]

NC law says you can't carry a concealed gun in areas of assemblies. I take this to mean churches, sports events etc. but i could be wrong.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

When the pastor starts the conversation with
'why do you need' I can just tell the conversation isn't going to be going his way.
This is America and a law abiding citizen doesn't need to have a 'need' to own a gun. If they don't understand that then they lack the reasoning ability to have an intelligent conversation on the matter.

My former brother-in-law started almost the same conversation with me. "I hunt deer," he said, "but why does anyone need an AK-47?"

I was in the Army and didn't even have a center fire rifle at the time, and I must have ticked him off when I said, "The Second Amendment isn't about deer hunting."

He started going on and on about what people "needed." He got pretty upset when I asked him why he needed a fully-loaded Lincoln Town Car when my Chevelle station wagon provided all the room, amenities, and performance that any reasonable person needed. He stuck his nose in the air and told me it wasn't the same thing at all. What a moron. Must be related to your preacher man.

ECS

 

[MMA10mm]

So far, I think I'm the only poster from the ONLY state not to have CC... I carry anyway, because, luckily I'm a sworn officer. I always carry (period). That includes church and other places (correctional settings and federal facilities are the only prohibited places for me).

I've never been asked and never told anyone at church. Among our congregation are a couple correctional officers, a couple retired city police officers, myself, and a Dpty Sheriff, who happens to have killed a man who was begining to cut the throat of an infant he was holding when the dpty shot him. We all know one-another, and the pastor and a lot of the church family know what we do. I don't know if they wonder if we're carrying, but I know they'd look to us to take care of a bad situation developed...

A couple years ago, a mentally-disturbed man came to church. I knew him quite well from past dealings -knew him by name. I made a mental note that I'd never seen him here before and kept an eye on him. The Dpty wasn't there that service, so I was pretty much on my own. Right at the beginning of the sermon he stood up and asked the pastor if he could speak. It was quite an uncompfortable situation, but the pastor said, "sure." I got up quietly and moved around behind the guy, but the pastor looked at me and shook his head negatively, which I took to mean 'don't do anything, but keep standing ready.'. The guy said his piece and sat down, and we went on with services. We never spoke of the incident again, but I think the pastor appreciated prepared help that also let him continue to be in charge of the service.

The info about the United Methodists really shocked me, and I looked up my church's position and found they don't have one. A survey of the pastors of the church shows they're pretty neutral to leaning pro-gun, and very conservative (including pro-death penalty at a 70% rate!). About 70% were pro-gun and 15% neutral. Not bad. The survey was run on some other denominations, and it looks like the most anti-gun was the Mennonites. Interestingly, they also had the widest spectrum (pretty evenly spread actually) of political beliefs too, which implied to me they are the least politically-activist within the church...

 

[Fat B]

You'd think robbing a church would get you on the fast track to Hell if there was one.

You'd also think that churches would be one of the first to recognize that there are evil forces in the world bend on disrupting the worship service.

While growing up, I learned to shoot guns partly from my minster who also taught rifle shooting at the Bible camp. So while it's never come up, I don't think he's opposed.