In this article, POLICE Magazine asks, “Will the year 2020 mark the moment in our nation’s history when we dramatically pivot and truly harden so-called “soft targets”—places that are frequently the targets of deranged killers bent on delivering death?”
It goes on to offer two recommendations:
Step One—post armed guards in as many houses of worship as possible. It’s unreasonable to expect total coverage, but the mere fact that there MIGHT be a “good guy with a gun” inside might be sufficient deterrent to keep parishioners safe.
Step Two—at the state level, abolish the notion of “gun-free” zones.
Here is a list of killings that have happened at USA churches since 2012:
December 29, 2019: A killer murdered two people during the morning service at West Freeway Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, before he was fatally shot by a volunteer member of the church security team.
November 5, 2017: A killer opened fire at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people and wounding about 20 others. No church security team was in place to stop it.
Around 4 in 5 Protestant pastors (80%) say their church has some type of security measure in place when they gather for worship, according to a survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.
Almost 2 in 3 pastors (62%) say their church has an intentional plan for an active killer situation. The more people who show up to worship services each week, the more likely the church is to have made plans for a potential murderer. Pastors of churches with 250 or more in attendance (77%) and those with 100 to 249 (74%) are more likely to have an intentional plan than those with 50 to 99 in attendance (58%) or those with less than 50 in their worship service each week (45%).
Close to half of pastors (45%) say part of their security measures include having armed church members. Combining this with the percentages who say they have uniformed police officers or armed security personnel on site, 51% intentionally have firearms at their worship services as part of their security measures.
Invite SemperVerus to present its 5 life-changing success-generating components—prepare, aware, be, know, do—to your organization to inspire and motivate your members.
