Posted on 12/10/2007 10:58:54 AM PST by Luke Skyfreeper
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- A Colorado Springs megachurch instituted security precautions after a shooting at a Denver area mission center earlier Sunday, saving "hundreds of lives" at the New Life Church, senior Pastor Brady Boyd said Monday.
A New Life parishioner acting as a security guard shot and killed a gunman who entered the church Sunday afternoon after he had gotten no more than 50 feet inside the building, Boyd said.
...
Boyd said the female security guard was a hero in preventing further bloodshed, rushing to confront the gunman just inside the church.
"She probably saved over a hundred lives," Boyd said of the guard, whom he said is not a law enforcement officer and used her personal weapon.
...
"Hundreds of lives were saved yesterday because of the plan that was put in place," said Boyd, who put the number of people on the church campus at the time as 7,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I don't think Jesus' comment about turning the other cheek meant that he wants his church's members to just meekly allow themselves to be murdered en masse by a lunatic who apparently had "issues" with Christians or Christian churches. A slap on the cheek won't take a young mother away from her children for the rest of their lives, but an armed lunatic's bullets would.
God speaking through Moses instructed Jewish rulers and judges to punish evildoers by taking life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. IIRC the Old Testament book of Exodus contains a passage of scripture that authorizes using deadly force against burglars if they break into your home after dark to steal valuables or to do you harm, and that scripture was written by the same God except in human flesh who talked about turning the other cheek 14 centuries later.
If this were not the case, many of our MOH recipients would have "just been doing their job" too. We recognize however that little phrase, "Above and beyond the call of duty". Thus the term hero, or more appropriately, "heroine" applies.
Furthermore, that security guard at the church shows us, without a doubt, that conceal carry and the ability for the private citizens to be armed, STOPS these attacks. That it SAVES LIVES, and that it should be the policy of every church, school, mall, etc.
THIS is what the MSM should be focusing on if they had a single ounce, one cintilla of true jounalism left in their collective system. This is the news, along with he attack itself, that should be grabbing healines:
"ARMED HEROINE PREVENTS SLAUGHTER AT CHURCH BY SHOOTING THE ATTACKER DEAD"
I am glad to see CNN, for at least the moment, giving her this exposure, but hopefully they will also focus on HOW she was able to accomplish it.
Finally, thank God that pastor there LISTENED to the inspiration he felt regarding protecting his flock, and then ACTED on it that morning by getting the additional security in place, which included, among other things as I understand it, getting his people to safe places within the church, each group protected by an armed security guard, and getting them out of the line of fire...as well as having this particular security guard near him who was able (and WILLING) to react to the attack by taking the fight directly to the perp and taking him down.
Without such actions and plan, there would have been a much, much more horrific body count I am afraid...which just punctuates the point of arming the people so they can stop such attacks as they develop.
true, but i have at least some control over the roads. i like to have some control over an armed attacker as well. like the old saying goes: “i’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”
So what then are the metaphorical meaning of “purse” and “scrip” and “cloak” similarly indicated in the same sentence? and why does He direct them to set them aside at the beginning of the ministry?
Funny how people think those items, and the directive to take them up (mirroring a comparable directive earlier to set them down) is literal - until we get to the word “sword” in the same breath, which suddenly is some vague metaphor.
Mags are a simple pound apiece when loaded. That’s only 17 mags, and 17 pounds, for 500 rounds.
P.S. Notice how the fact he was homeschooled is an issue in the press. He is 24 years old but the press wants to make hay of his home schooling, as though that turned him into a lonely and crazed loser.
Turning the other cheek refers to being slapped or maybe punched, neither of which is usually lethal.
Actually, the type of strike referenced here would be a backhanded slap. Remember the Lord's exact words: "If someone strikes you on the right cheek...". Most people, being right-handed, would strike a blow using their right hand. If this were a punch, the blow would land on the left side of your head. To strike the right side of your face with their right hand, the blow would be a backhand. In other words, the kind of slap one delivers while insulting another person. The Lord is thus instructing us on how to deal with insults, not life-threatening attacks. For that sort of thing, He advises us to sell other highly useful possessions, as a cloak would have been in that day, to purchase lethal weapons. (Sticking someone with a sword ain't like playing pattycakes with 'em! They're no less lethal than a firearm.)
“I thought Ranya moved to Wyoming. What’s she doing in Colorado?”
She’s a babe. We don’t mind. ;>
I certainly agree with that.
I hope everyone remembers that pre-911 hijackings had sometimes ended badly, but never with planned mass murder. Under those circumstances, instructing unarmed passengers to lay low made a lot of sense.
When the challenge changes, as it did on 911, doctrine has to change too.
Expecting ordinary people to anticipate the change before it happens is not reasonable. That’s why they call them surprise attacks.
She did her duty. That's better than being a hero.
Wow! some guts and some shooting. That’s impressive
Colonel, USAFR
I can get away with a .45 Commnander, but I wear fairly unfashonable outfits, and frequently don't remove my jacket, even indoors [Bianchi X15 shoulder rig beneath- yes I get the *old guy with a shoulder rig jokes from several of my cop pals.*] I'd think a Para-Ordnance Warthog might be an option for you if it works in your hand- for me the Glock 30 is just too wide, though a Glock 36 is a possibility. If they ever apply the *Glock 21 SF* modifications to the Glock 30, I may give one another try.
My favorite sweetie is fond of her Polish P64 in 9mm Makarov, and she cherrily carries a full 6-round mag in the pistol, plus four more in the little side pouches of her purse. And she shoots it a lot, so it obviously works for her.
Glock-27 unless you have very large hands.
Ket-Tec PF-9 is even smaller, but won’t handle +P.
But then, don’t you understand - women are liberals and liberals hate guns!
I hope they do, because that is the crux of the matter. More people should be armed, it should be the polciy of every school, church, mall, home, etc. in this country.
Only then will the "Gun Free - killing zones" go away and these killers be permanently deterred when they start shooting, as opposed to after they have run out of ammo or saited their appetite in the blood of others.
If I'm not mistaken that is the same "mega-church" that was formerly pastored by Tedd Haggard, the evangelical preacher who made headlines when he was dismissed by the church not long ago for having a long-running affair with a homosexual prostitute. I wonder how he would have reacted to the killings at another church in that area if he had not been fired, I don't think that many preachers would authorize an armed guard for a regular church service.
Put her on the Presidential ballot - she would win by a landslide.
As I understand it, this plan was put into effect because of the attack earlier that day...a sort of "heightened" level of security.
Whatever the case...I believe it was inspiried and that it clearly saved a lot of lives.
I provisionally agree.
Granted, no one knows the future, but with the idea I might face jihadis in public rather than criminals, I have developed a "standard" and a "heavy" loadout.
Not recommending it for anyone else, but it's my preference.
I agree with you - to an extent. I think there are degrees of “heroism”.
E.g., the only true, pure, top-tier heroes of 9/11 were those that we know helped deflect United 93 from evil intentions.
We can only speculate about all of the passengers there, and about passengers on the other planes or within the WTC/Pentagon. Undoubtedly in there were some pure heroes - regular people not expecting to get in any trouble, not expecting to face evil.
The 2nd-tier I guess are the firefighters, police, etc - indeed, people whose job it is to face these things, and should expect to face them sometimes.
I’d suggest too, there is the hero that faces a human threat, and the hero that faces a “natural”, incidental threat. Facing the human threat (or even animal, I suppose) is the worst of all, especially when you’re dealing with the ROP. Facing a fire - well, let’s just say if you’re lucky, it’s not going to turn around and shoot at you. The ROP will keep at you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.