Posted on 12/16/2007 10:43:41 AM PST by marktwain
Jeanne Assam, the heroine of the New Life Church shooting in Colorado Springs, would likely have been unable to carry the Beretta that she stopped the shooting with if she had been a licensed security guard.
An AP article published on 12 December noted that licensed security guards in Colorado Springs are restricted to the use of revolvers.
As Jeanne Assam was a volunteer parishioner who was performing security guard duties because the church did not want to hire “mercenaries”, she was almost certainly not affected by the regulations, which only apply to government regulated security guards.
Fortunately, her lack of official status with the state and city allowed her to carry a firearm with sufficient firepower to accomplish the necessary task.
Jeannette had to fire 10 rounds to keep her fellow parishoners safe.
I haven’t been able to find anything that says that “licensed security guards” must carry revolvers. I looked for that before. In fact, I’m aware of MANY “licensed security officers” carrying semiautomatics. Granted the majority of them that I know personally are guarding Federal facilities, and most of the time such rules aren’t enforced against Federally hired guards (who by the way are CONTRACTORS, not “Federal officers”, so don’t get those two things confused).
There may be some local rules or something, but I’m not aware of any of those. In fact, my own BANK doesn’t even have armed guards.
then again, knowing some of them when I asked about “Why don’t they carry weapons?” to one of their bosses.... his response was “You know them, would YOU want THEM carrying guns?”
I have to say that in that context the answer was no, but that company has a habit of hiring anyone who can still walk, puts them in a security uniform and then tells them to “guard” something. They don’t even provide the people in uniform with a cell phone to call 911. Needless to say, those folks are no longer contractors where I work.
There is also an account that he was wearing some kind of flak vest as well. If that’s the case, probably wouldn’t have mattered what weapon she had, it would have taken more than one shot to the chest.
Found this in the news... but, you know it’s a buncha liberals that wrote it.
Colorado Springs may change gun rules for guards
Some say a well-armed young man’s attack on a church underscores the need to change a city ordinance so that security officers may carry semiautomatic weapons.
By DeeDee Correll, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 15, 2007
DENVER — In Colorado Springs, where a troubled young man brought an assault rifle, two semiautomatic handguns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition to a church, security guards aren’t allowed to carry anything more powerful than a revolver.
That could change early next year, when the city will consider a proposal to permit licensed security officers to carry semiautomatic weapons.
The proposed change doesn’t come in response to Sunday’s attack at New Life Church, where Matthew Murray, 24, shot five people before a volunteer guard stopped him with several shots. But some say the situation underscores the need for security officers to be as well-prepared as the criminals they may face.
“It’s just a common-sense issue. Do you want an old, outdated six-shooter up against a machine gun?” said John Pepe of Cheyenne Mountain Security, a private firm in Colorado Springs.
The existing ordinance dates back to the early 1980s, City Clerk Kathryn Young said. Though the ordinance itself does not specify what types of weapons a guard may carry, an attached policy spells out that guards may carry revolvers capable of holding as many as eight rounds of ammunition. The allowed revolvers, which can have 4- or 6-inch barrels, include .38s, .38 Specials and .357 magnums.
Young said that she wasn’t sure why city officials originally created the restriction, but that it wasn’t common for people to carry semiautomatics then.
The regulation applies only to those who work as paid contract security officers, city spokeswoman Sue Skiffington-Blumberg said.
She said the restriction on semiautomatic weapons did apply to volunteers such as Jeanne Assam, who was working at New Life Church during Sunday’s assault.
Assam returned fire with a Beretta 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, hitting Murray several times before he shot himself in the head.
A coalition of security firms has urged the city to change its position for a long time, Young said. About eight months ago, city officials began examining the policy, and they intend to propose changes in January.
Young said other Colorado cities had a variety of policies on the issue, with some restricting guards to revolvers and others allowing semiautomatic weapons.
The biggest disadvantage of a revolver is that it holds only five to seven rounds, whereas a semiautomatic can hold as many as 15, Pepe said. “If you’re in a line of fire, you want the best weapon possible,” he said.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which favors tighter firearms controls, said he saw the logic in allowing security officers to have the same firepower as a potential assailant. “We allow ordinary citizens to carry these things around. Why we do that, I don’t know. But if we’re going to allow that, we’re probably forcing the hand of security guards to do the same,” he said.
The real solution, he said, is for Congress to enact a new ban on assault weapons. “Then we wouldn’t have to have an arms race going,” he said.
While I can't speak for the church, I know that due to heightened security measures (especially after the Seattle shootings last year) every synagogue in Kansas City has armed guards (off-duty police officers) and tight security (parking passes and "tickets") to get into High Holy Day services.
Mark
I know what you mean. One of my dreams when I was younger was to attend Gunsite while Colonel Cooper was still there. While that dream is gone, Gunsite would still be a terrific learning experience, as would a much closer (to me) school, the Chapman Academy, outside of Columbia, MO.
We had some very interesting matches, including one that started with 5 minutes of strenuous calisthenics before beginning the course of fire. And often, these courses were "blind," where we had no idea what we were supposed to do, other than vague "rescue the bunny" instructions. Again, the idea was to introduce stress and uncertainty into a controlled match (there was a RSO that shadowed the shooter, ready to end the shooting if things got out of hand.
Mark
Had the article mentioned that IF Assam had been hired by the Church as a security guard she’d be restricted to a revolver, it would have been more accurate. She can be a security guard and carry a semi automatic as a private citizen while not on duty. In any event, it’s a stupid regulation. Speedloaders and a lot of practice will even the odds.
I suspect that you are in the brick masonry trade.... 8~)
Confucius say: “ 9 mm pistol is .45 set on ‘stun’”.....
Indeed ... if it really is against the rules, there are a lot of licensed security guards in violation of it.
Here are the Colorado Springs licensing requirements for private security services
I did not see ANYTHING in these requirements restricting guards to revolvers.
The only restriction is that licensed private security guards cannot carry CONCEALED weapons -- they have to be visible.
I posted a link to the CO Spgs rules above. There's NOTHING in 'em about revolvers-only.
Yeah, I saw it. There’s apparently something in the Colorado Springs ordinances though, based on what some of the downtown offices are saying. I haven’t had time to call the Clerk and Recorder on this today, perhaps this afternoon.
But, apparently the rules were written some years back, perhaps in the late 80s or so, and semiautomatics weren’t as prevalent I guess, from what some of the articles I read today said. (I don’t think that’s precisely the case, but my thinking is that they didn’t take into account the NEED for having a weapon with more bullets than the bad guys. Even though WE as citizens have discussed such things for YEARS — city councils are NOT known to be very “conservative” in particular OURS here in the Springs area)
See 166 above
Hm. OK ... so the ordnance is somewhere other than in the rules for security agencies? How ... odd. I can say that it is very widely ignored if there is a law agin’ it.
M. Firearms: It shall be unlawful for any private security officer to carry any firearm while performing security services without first obtaining a firearm endorsement from the City Clerk’s Office. It shall be unlawful to carry a concealed weapon while performing security services or exercising the privileges of licensure. (Ord. 98-71; Ord. 01-42)
That’s all I can find anywhere in the regulation. I’ll have to dig more in a few.
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