John Farnam advises that a new policy development aid is available for churches and other houses of worship that want to establish their own security teams. (In this violent day and age, I fully support such initiatives.)
When such teams are appointed, organized, and charged with various duties, a competent, comprehensive, written policy quickly becomes an acute necessity for safety, competency, and legal reasons.
My esteemed friend and colleague, Manny Kapelsohn has now composed, and is marketing, such a written policy. I assisted in the final editing.
Manny is simultaneously a renowned attorney and firearms trainer, and the two of us have conducted countess training programs together. Manny also regularly provides professional expert assistance to litigants in deadly-force cases, both criminal and civil, renders critical trial testimony routinely, and is one of the very few who is genuinely qualified to compose such a document.
This “House of Worship Firearms and Use of Force Policy Bundle” (Policy, Comments, etc) document is now available at:
On the website, click “Products.”
Upon checkout, enter the discount code “FARNAM25.”
Individual users will, of course, need to tweak this policy document in order for it to specifically apply to their particular situation. The final version they intend to implement will naturally need to be reviewed and approved by their own attorney before being placed in force.
There's more at the link.
Yes, this is passing on an advertisement, I suppose: but I trust John Farnam implicitly. He's one of the best defensive firearm instructors around, and has been for decades. If he says this policy guide is so good, I'm going to take him at his word: and knowing how many houses of worship struggle to define what their security team is, what its duties should be, and how it should operate in the legal constraints that apply to their area, I think such a guide can only benefit all of us.
If your church or house of worship has, or is considering setting up, a security team, I suggest you mention Mr. Farnam's article and the link above to your pastor or church administrator. I think they'll find it useful.
Peter
7 comments:
We have a uniformed Deputy Sheriff who attends every Sunday and I know of one parishioner who is a former Marine who conceal carries. It's a shame that these days you have to take such precautions, but we are safer than some of our brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East whose Worship Services are always in danger from Communist or Muslim attacks.
$424.50 for the guide.
Can someone explain to me why it is taboo or illegal to conceal carry in church? I would think this to be an obvious place for that. I don't see how it is in any way disrespectful either, especially from an old testament viewpoint. Is their a specific state, or federal law that is restricting carry to special security forces or off duty police in places of worship? Not trying to stir up trouble or antagonize, I am genuinely curious.
I can only speak for my own state, Arkansas. We are a Constitutional Carry state, but also have two levels of concealed carry permits (I got one so that I could carry in states with reciprocity.) The basic permit doesn't allow carry in certain places (state parks, houses of worship). The enhanced permit does allow carry in those otherwise off limits locations. I have only the basic permit, but carry a pistol every Sunday.
ehh.. sc is weird. the laws have gotten better over time in relation to carry but churches are still a no go unless you have a signed permission from the church. and you would be shocked by how many of the priests feel threatened by the thought of a Parrish member carrying, to the point of derangement literally in one case i personally saw. do know a couple pastors from some evangelical churches. They were more likely to invite you hunting after you asked.
In general churches and schools just feel like free range shooting galleries to me anymore. makes me uncomfortable. The Parrish does have a lot of officers that attend and they do carry when off duty and at church. However with 5 masses or so on sunday, there is no telling if their is someone armed there at each of them. I believe that there are a few people that carry regardless but couldn't confirm it as you know... they are not going to say they are breaking the law :)
My wife works as a second grade teacher and both kids go to school, one where my wife works and the other at a nearby school. She used to carry regularly but once she started teaching she mostly doesn't carry at all anymore. She didn't like leaving the gun in the car at the school and can't carry on school grounds so just started leaving it home. Mostly unless she is now going out of town it sits in safe. From what I can tell the response to a shooter at my girls schools would be pretty pathetic. Over the years I have asked and made suggestions but no one cares what I think. Protecting children in in school from an active shooter would be fairly easy and relatively cheap. A few thousand dollars per classroom if done right.
security bars for the doors. This keeps the door from opening if the lock is shot out.
2 some 4x8 sheets of ar500 equivalent sheet steel on a nice castor arrangement or hinged to walls in a corner that could be quickly opened or arranged to shield children huddled behind them from fire from doors or windows. That's it.. someone could shoot at them for an hour and still not hurt them if behind3/8th inch armor steel plate. Its the same stuff steel targets are made of that people shoot hundreds if not thousands of rounds at and most bullets just splash off of. Those two things (Stopping them from opening the door and armor to huddle behind) would slow and and protect almost all the children from an active shooter and give time for someone to respond. It's so stupidly simple and I have never heard anyone else bring it up and when I do all I get is well its not a recommended solution from the experts from the government in the recommended response plan. God save us from approved plans.
When I first moved to California in 1985 a deputy came to my condo door out in Chula Vista and warned me that there was some minor gang activity and it was very important to never ever shoot at gangsters in the yard, wait until they come into the house and then make sure you kill them because otherwise when they recover (and like cockroaches they survive just about everything) they will sue you for everything you have or ever will. So anyway, if the Church is sponsoring an armed reaction force is it going to cost the parishioners everything they have and ever will have if the 'victim" sues them for shooting him?
In California, they passed a law that said that maybe a few public streets are legal to carry but everywhere else is forbidden. Even the 9th Circuit, with a hostile 3 judge panel, still managed to find that Places of Worship were still legal to carry (May v Bonta). The CRPA is still fighting, as somehow parks and restaurants that serve any alcohol are off limits.
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