[Salvavida]

A pastor that does not allow or encourage members to carry won’t find me in his pews. All of my pastors have fortunately been pro-active and formed security teams.

[imardmd1]

In our state, a church meeting is no different than a Rotary Club meeting or a baseball game. Although some have tried to convince me otherwise, there is no law here that prevents concealed carry (or open, if you really want harassment) at a church gathering of any kind.

I've attended several of independent Baptist churches where attendants probably carried. In one that I regularly attended I know that the preacher was always armed.

Of course, a church may institute its own policy against guns on the property, but needs to publicly post the policy to make possession on the property a proprietary thing.

What people seem not to have noticed is that at least two of the disciples were carrying sidearms on the evening of the Last Supper, and that directly afterward, Jesus commanded that every disciple ought to obtain a sword; and if without cash, to sell his extra garments and get one.

Carrying a sidearm for defensive purposes is a Christian principle, and those who are horrified by it are sadly and totally wrong, and need to be firmly corrected.

The great commentators concur on this.

[Fred Hayek]

The church that I attend has several people carrying, you just don’t know who they could be. The church also provides certified CCW license training, instructed by members who are part of the law enforcement community. We also have our occasional gun control meetings - consisting of a few hours at the range followed by dinner.

[archy]

A pastor that does not allow or encourage members to carry won’t find me in his pews. All of my pastors have fortunately been pro-active and formed security teams.

Shortly after the Colorado massacre incident in which an ex-copchick nailed the idiot who THOUGHT he was going to get to shoot up another collection of unarmed victims, our local pastor commented on the event, and read the part from Luke 22:36 about the command by Christ that *He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and take one up* and then asked us *Are there then at least two good armed Christians among this group? If so, stand up so that your brethren will know who they can count on to stand for them if that sort of trouble should come here.* Out of about 75 adults, about two dozen of us stood up, including me, my fiancée, our next-door neighbor, and our county sheriff. And, of course our pastor was standing as well. And for good reason; he was one of us, though his little Springfield XD would not be my choice.

After services, he asked me what I thought of his sermon. Okay, I opined, but I'd have preferred a reference to Deuteronomy 32:42.