Armed guards keep watch over church services
November 7th, 2008 by Syd
Lori Davis remembers a time when the doors were always open at her church — and not guarded.
Relatives mourn after a gunman opened fire at a church meeting in Brookfield, Wisconsin, in 2005.
“No one thought twice about their safety. I guess we took it for granted,” said Davis.
But things have changed. In an era when terrorism threats and deadly shootings at schools and churches have made headlines, religious leaders are rethinking their security strategies. Last Saturday, a minister was fatally shot and another man wounded outside of a church in Kentucky where the men went to attend a funeral.
Such violence has houses of worship evolving from the days of walkie-talkies and video surveillance to armed guards, who keep a watchful eye over worship services and church.
“We live in a sinful world and people do crazy and irrational things,” said Davis, a member of the Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
Highview, like a number of other churches nationwide, has a volunteer security force consisting of at least one armed guard during any given worship service.
“I’m much more comfortable knowing they’re there if needed rather than just hoping for the best,” Davis said…
…Many Highview worshippers say they are comforted by the fact that there is a focus on security.
“There are no safe places anymore. Something could happen to me in church just as easily as at home or in the grocery store,” said Sheri Mock. “But I don’t worry, because I feel secure in church with the program they have.”…
…In states where people are allowed to carry concealed weapons, volunteers have become a cost-effective means of providing the security that some churches have come to rely on, Annis said…
…Jeff Petersen, a pastor at Lincoln Berean, said the church began considering armed security members after a gunman in Colorado last year killed four people and wounded five at two churches. In that case, a volunteer security officer with law enforcement experience fired on the gunman and stopped the attack, according to authorities. The gunman later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
“We want our people to know we care about their safety and we’re aware of the unfortunate possibilities, so it’s important for us to be proactive,” Petersen said. “We just felt like it would be the worst possible day in our church to be unprepared for that kind of thing.”…
Source: CNN
The cowards who seek out targets for a school/mall/church shooting will go where they think they will not face armed response.
Cho the Coward knew he would be the only one with a gun at Virginia Tech. The Colorado murderer who attacked Jeane Assam’s church thought he’d be in a “no gun” zone when he looked to go out in a blaze of glory.
Harris and Kliebold knew they would be the only ones armed at Columbine.
The SLC mall shooter chose mall posted as a “no carry” zone as did the Nebraska mall shooter.
Over and over and over the evidence is clear. The mentality of these people paint a picture of a coward who is looking for maximum death of innocents followed by suicide.
If there was no place made safe for these cowards then they would become much, much rarer, as would other forms of crime.
Proof? Ever seen one of these guys attack a gun club shooting range? How about a police station?
COWARDICE is the prime mentality of any of these murderers.
“There are no safe places anymore. Something could happen to me in church just as easily as at home or in the grocery store,” said Sheri Mock. “But I don’t worry, because I feel secure in church with the program they have.”…
She’s getting there. It shouldn’t take much for her to realize that since “there are no safe places anymore”, she should provide for her own safety.
I’m one of a number of CCW holders in our church. It’s well known among the members that we have CCW licenses. No one has ever asked if any of us carry in church. One of the CCW holders is a church Elder, another is a church Deacon.
As a 12 yr veteran police officer in a southwestern city of 500,000 I always carry a sidearm to my church concealed. I’ve even worked off duty for a large Christian church in my city in uniform because the pastor’s life was threatened. They still use uniformed police officers for big events and the like while maintaining their own volunteer security group. With the chaos in California over Prop 8 stirred up by the militant gay/lesbian types, all Christian, Jewish, Islamic and any other moral based organization that opposes them should be on guard. The militant faction of the gay rights crowd has made it clear that they intend to assail Christian churches, weddings etc. The citizens of the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia will be easy targets since they aren’t even allowed to have pepper spray without “special training”…..forget expanding batons and especially firearms.