A friend of ours provided the following article to us. We think the answer to the question about concealed in places of worship is a resounding yes. The answer is the same with any other "soft" target.
The New York Crime Commission did a study of mass killings over the past 28 years (a copy is attached to our posting on December 26, 2012 in an article entitled "Lots of Noise--Not Much To Back It Up". ) Out of the 30 incidents, two were churches at which 13 people were killed. Had someone been armed at each of these crime scenes, one can only presume that the death toll would have been much lower.
The argument that many, especially those who do not like guns, will use is that the police will provide our protection. This is naive. Unless police are standing outside, it will take several minutes, in the best of conditions, to arrive at the scene. Secondly, when they do get there, they are not going to run in and shoot the gunman, they need backup to arrive and they have to assess the scene. They need to know where the person is, what he looks like, what he is wearing, where the other congregants are, what type of gun does he have and how many victims there are. Police don't just charge in guns-a-blazing. This time lost could result in more deaths.
On the other hand, a trained congregant with a concealed weapon could respond immediately. There would be no time lag and it might result in the gunman retreating without incident. Each situation is different, however, with someone armed in the Church, Mosque, or Synagogue, the chance of minimizing the death toll is great.
Two suggestions are important. First of all, the Pastor, Minister, Reverend or Rabbi leading the services, must know who is armed. This will mitigate someone causing a panic because he/she sees a weapon. Additionally, the congregation, as a whole, should be notified that there will be people who are properly licensed and trained who will be attending services with their weapons.
Secondly, one cannot say enough that the person with the concealed weapon must be trained and current in their training. The idea is not to have a wild west but rather a deterrence which hopefully never will have to be used.
A sign posted outside the building telling all those who can read that members of the Congregation are trained and armed is an interesting idea. We are sure that it might turn off some members, however, would a knuckle-dragging-scumbag intending to kill others be deterred? We think so.
It is sad that we have to even think about these situations, however, there are sick people who for unknown reasons want to kill others and so we must be prepared.
Conservative Tom
The New York Crime Commission did a study of mass killings over the past 28 years (a copy is attached to our posting on December 26, 2012 in an article entitled "Lots of Noise--Not Much To Back It Up". ) Out of the 30 incidents, two were churches at which 13 people were killed. Had someone been armed at each of these crime scenes, one can only presume that the death toll would have been much lower.
The argument that many, especially those who do not like guns, will use is that the police will provide our protection. This is naive. Unless police are standing outside, it will take several minutes, in the best of conditions, to arrive at the scene. Secondly, when they do get there, they are not going to run in and shoot the gunman, they need backup to arrive and they have to assess the scene. They need to know where the person is, what he looks like, what he is wearing, where the other congregants are, what type of gun does he have and how many victims there are. Police don't just charge in guns-a-blazing. This time lost could result in more deaths.
On the other hand, a trained congregant with a concealed weapon could respond immediately. There would be no time lag and it might result in the gunman retreating without incident. Each situation is different, however, with someone armed in the Church, Mosque, or Synagogue, the chance of minimizing the death toll is great.
Two suggestions are important. First of all, the Pastor, Minister, Reverend or Rabbi leading the services, must know who is armed. This will mitigate someone causing a panic because he/she sees a weapon. Additionally, the congregation, as a whole, should be notified that there will be people who are properly licensed and trained who will be attending services with their weapons.
Secondly, one cannot say enough that the person with the concealed weapon must be trained and current in their training. The idea is not to have a wild west but rather a deterrence which hopefully never will have to be used.
A sign posted outside the building telling all those who can read that members of the Congregation are trained and armed is an interesting idea. We are sure that it might turn off some members, however, would a knuckle-dragging-scumbag intending to kill others be deterred? We think so.
It is sad that we have to even think about these situations, however, there are sick people who for unknown reasons want to kill others and so we must be prepared.
Conservative Tom
Bolstering Security in Your Place of Worship
When an attacker or attackers use deadly force, only an immediate and precise deadly force response can save innocent lives. PHOTO BY OLEG VOLK • A-HUMAN-RIGHT.COM
International laws of war bar firing upon or from a religious building.
Furthermore, there are state and federal laws in the United States against murder. Nevertheless, laws do little or nothing to stop violent criminal actors (VCA’s). Only law-abiding citizens obey the law. Thus, laws that disarm law-abiding citizens create killing grounds for the lawless.
In these exciting times, people congregating at places of religious worship and education are at significant risk of deadly attacks by armed trespassers and disgruntled congregants. Religious congregants therefore had better make plans to prepare themselves to fight back effectively. An attack must be met immediately with enough counterforce to stop the attackers. When an attacker or attackers use deadly force, only an immediate and precise deadly force response can save innocent lives. Thus, religious congregants had better be prepared to use deadly force to put down armed attackers.
What makes these times especially dangerous isn’t just evil men who are violent criminal actors, but evil men and women, as well as clueless ones, in governments that want to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.
Armed senior citizens can contribute to a religious congregation’s self-defense plan. Violent perpetrators typically do not expect armed resistance from unsuspecting civilians. Apparently, the murderous gunman who recently invaded the Sikh temple in Wisconsin and carried out that deadly shooting rampage did not encounter any armed resistance until he was eventually neutralized by police. However, by then, the casualty toll had mounted. Violent perpetrators predictably do not expect senior citizens to fight back. The element of surprise as it relates to your defense is tactically beneficial.
Wisconsin recently legalized concealed carry. However, apparently, none of the congregants at the besieged Milwaukee Sikh temple were prepared to meet gunfire with gunfire. Lawless criminals are opportunists who will predictably take advantage of anyone they believe they can get over on. That is the definition of “antisocial personality” or “sociopath.” Concealed carry legislation empowering law-abiding citizens to go armed can only help fight crime if citizens take advantage of the right. Guns in the hands of trained good people save lives.
Cowardly murderers go to slay sheep, not sheepdogs or wolves. So, in the Wisconsin Sikh Temple shooting rampage, it took a resolute man with a gun, a brave police officer, to neutralize the murderer and end his carnage. Unfortunately, it took more time for him to arrive than it took the murderer to end innocent lives. That’s why we carry guns –because it takes time for the cavalry arrive.
These exciting times are dangerous times. Actually, times have always been dangerous. That’s why, until gun control and victim disarmament were institutionalized by “civilized societies” in modern times, men, women and children learned to use deadly weapons for self-defense, and they kept them immediately accessible.
What makes these times especially dangerous isn’t just evil men who are violent criminal actors, but evil men and women, as well as clueless ones, in governments that want to strip us of our right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Our founding fathers who led the uprising against imperial England knew this when they penned the Second Amendment into the Bill of Rights. Common sense tells us that gun control should refer to the use of fire- arms to control violent criminal behavior, as opposed to victim disarmament. Firearms are not just for the police and the military. They are for law-abiding citizens who choose to take responsibility for their own safety.
We senior citizens have seen much armed conflict in our lifetime. We know that only the strong and prepared survive.
When are people who choose to go unarmed going to learn that the government cannot protect them from these types of incidents? We cannot prevent violence through victim disarmament. Concealed carry laws cannot do it either, unless people do, in fact, go armed and prepared to deal with violence wherever it breaks out.
And even if people do exercise their right to keep and bear arms, there will always be human viruses who perpetrate murder. We can only minimize risk and minimize the number of casualties. Trying to eliminate all risk, which is what institutionalized gun control is all about, throws out the proverbial “baby with the bath water” and simply gives evil more room to work. The elimination of free choice is truly the Devil’s playground.
A state like New Jersey, which severely limits concealed carry rights, actually endangers the population by putting citizens at the mercy of criminals who don’t obey the law. States like Colorado that put unreasonable restrictions on concealed carry by legally armed citizens, put everyone at the mercy of evil “whack jobs” like the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooter, James Holmes.
The days of being able to go to the movies on a Friday night without fear of some degenerate element of society are long gone. These times require that people take seriously the right to carry lethal weapons, and the importance of combatives training in the use of weapons for self-defense. Unfortunately, you cannot have a cop in your pocket when you need one, but you can have a gun! Having a substantial concealed handgun on you with several reloads (read: fully loaded spare magazines) and knowing how to use this “emergency rescue equipment” can dramatically increase your security and reduce the effects of violent criminals and mentally ill actors. It would be a great to live in a world that didn’t require defensive measures and lethal force. However, Utopia is a pipe dream. These are DANGEROUS TIMES!
Armed Citizen Defense
If you have a license to carry firearms, you should carry consistently because you never know when trouble is going to break out. Many people who carry a firearm choose not to carry when they go to church, synagogue, temple, etc. This is a mistake. It is especially important to be armed and ready when attending one’s place of religious worship. Senior citizens typically are the elders of religious congregations. Shouldn’t they also be role models for the acceptance of responsibility for personal and community security?
We senior citizens have seen much armed conflict in our lifetime. We know that only the strong and prepared survive. The NAZI holocaust perpetrated by Germany’s Third Reich proved that those with firearms can have their way with those who have been denied access to firearms. It took strength, determination, purpose, wits, and a good dose of luck to survive in Europe during that era, especially if you were on Hitler’s “hit list”. It is therefore, a surprise to me, as a Jew, that so many Jewish people in the United States today support institutionalized gun control. I’ll never understand this.
Many people who carry a firearm choose not to carry when they go to church, synagogue, temple, etc. This is a mistake.
Refuse to be a Victim
Don’t be a sitting duck. Go to your place of worship armed. Exercise your rights and your common sense. Whatever your religion, however you worship, the Lord does not want you to be a victim. However, he grants you free choice. Make the right choice. Carry the biggest guns you can conceal when you go to worship.
The Bible says: And we ourselves will go armed and ready for battle before the children of Israel, until we bring them in unto their places. Our little ones, and all we have, shall be in walled cities, for fear of the ambushes of the inhabitants. (Numbers 32:17) and…
If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. (Exodus 22:2-3) and…
He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. (Luke 22:35-39)
It is interesting to note the following contradiction. Anti-gun rights organizations (“gun banners” and “gun grabbers” such as the Brady Organization and Cease Fire NJ and PA) argue that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution only gives gun ownership rights (read the right to self-defense) to an organized militia (read organized state governments).
This was certainly not the intent of our founding fathers who sought to protect the citizenry of the young republic against further and future tyranny! After all, why would the founding fathers want to substitute one form of tyranny for another? These same anti-gun groups disseminate the erroneous belief that the police are there to protect the individual! They clearly have it backwards! The police cannot be there to protect you when you need them! Only you can protect yourself and your loved ones.
On July 20th, 2012, the tragic night in that Aurora, Colorado movie theater, when James Holmes turned a Batman movie into a living hell, if some private citizen with training, courage and the proper mindset was in that theater legally armed the murderer could have been neutralized and lives could have been saved.
Perhaps and armed citizen could have diminished the magnitude of the tragedy. Society doesn’t need morons, vigilantes or emotionally disturbed people with firearms, but the majority of citizens should be able to protect themselves from the few who would otherwise prey on them and do them violent harm.
Professional Security at Your Place of Worship
None of the congregants at the besieged Milwaukee Sikh temple were prepared to meet gunfire with gunfire. © iSTOCKPHOTO – Vikram Raghuvanshi
I recently was asked to attend a meeting of the board of directors of a large suburban Christian church to advise the group about how to handle the congregation’s fears of an occasional congregant who behaved in an erratic, hostile, and fear-inducing manner. They wanted to know if it was wise for the church’s volunteer security corps to be armed. My answer was yes, but…The “but” referred to the fact that, while it is legally defensible and wise for congregants to carry a firearm for personal self-defense, once a security officer (paid or unpaid) did so, in the course of his or her duty as a security officer, the issue falls under a different legal statute.
In Pennsylvania, that statute is Act 235 (www.Act235Testing.com) and it requires that armed security personnel have obtained special training and certification to work armed. Thus, I advised the board that it would be a good idea for their corps of voluntary security to apply for the Act 235 certification so that they could obtain the training and the armed guard license. This would accomplish several things. These congregants would get the mandatory training, learn about the Pennsylvania Criminal Code, and the church would mitigate some liability.
It is interesting that half of this church’s security personnel are over the age of 65. Bolster the security of your place of religious worship. Be prepared to implement a counter-ambush tactical response to an armed attack on your church or synagogue. The only thing that will stop a violent criminal actor on a shooting or stabbing rampage is the immediate and precise application of deadly force. Go to church armed and minimize the risk of your place of worship being turned into a killing ground.
References:
| www.Act235Testing.com | www.LethalWeaponsPA.com |
[ Bruce N. Eimer, Ph.D., psychologist and NRA Certified Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, trains law abiding citizens in the defensive use of firearms. His company, Personal Defense Solutions, also runs the classes required to obtain the Florida, Virginia, and Utah non-resident multi-state CCW permits. To learn more, visit: www.PersonalDefenseSolutions.net andwww.DefensiveHandguns.com ]
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