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New Edition of Hostility Against Churches Report Shows a Doubling of Attacks

The newest edition of Family Research Council’s (FRC) Hostility Against Churches report suggests hostility against US churches has rapidly accelerated.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

FRC identifies 436 hostility incidents in 2023—more than double the number identified in 2022 and more than 8 times the number identified in 2018, the first year for which FRC collected data.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security: Church Crisis Response Checklist ]

Notable findings in the 183-page report include:

September Marked the 50th Straight Month – 4 Years – of Firearm Sales Over 1 Million

September marked the 50th continuous month on record in which USA gun sales in the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS) exceeded 1 million firearms, according to estimates by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, 20 Reasons to Concealed Carry a Defensive Firearm ]

The NSSF’s estimate is only a minimum, since it doesn’t factor in sales of multiple firearms during a single transaction and it doesn’t include sales in the 25 states that don’t require background checks for people who have qualified and been issued concealed carry permits.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, 12 Reasons to Responsibly Carry a Defensive Gun Every Day ]

Results from a Rutgers University New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center study, released in late June, indicate the number of Americans who own guns could be as high as 60% of the USA adult population (155,531,710 people).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Concealed Carry Daily Prayer ]

An analysis by the Crime Prevention Research Center identified a total of 440 active shooter incidents during the years of 2014–2022 and found that a responsibly armed citizen stopped at least 157 of them, which is 35.7% of all incidents; in 2022 alone, it was at least 41.3%.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Nebraska Is Now the 27th USA State That Allows Permitless Carrying of Concealed Firearms ]

The above data support Wake Forest University sociology professor David Yamane’s conclusion that “guns are normal and normal people use guns.”

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of Self-Defense ]

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By semperverus
Posted on 10/15/202310/15/2023

Survey: Protection Is the Main Reason People Own a Gun

Gun owners in the United States continue to cite protection far more than other factors as the major reason they own a gun.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Nebraska Is Now the 27th USA State That Allows Permitless Carrying of Concealed Firearms ]

And about half of Americans (47%) who don’t own a gun say they could imagine themselves as gun owners in the future.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Process of Becoming a First Time Gun Owner ]

According to the Pew Research Center survey, conducted June 5-11 among 5,115 members of the Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, the vast majority of gun owners (81%) say they feel safer owning a gun.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Checklist: Matters to Consider When Deciding on a Handgun ]

Planning and Armed Congregants Top Church Security Measures

Around 4 in 5 US Protestant Pastors (81%) Say Their Church Has Some Type of Security Measure in Place When They Gather for Worship.

By Aaron Earls

Most churches have some type of security measures in place during worship services. Pastors point to intentional plans and armed church members more than other measures, but compared to three years ago, fewer say they have plans and more say they have gun-carrying congregants.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

Numerous fatal shootings have occurred at churches in recent years. In March 2023, an armed assailant killed six people at The Covenant School, a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. Shootings have also occurred at other places of worship like Jewish synagogues and Sikh temples.

[ Read articles in the SemperVerus category of Church Security ]

When asked about their protocols when they gather for worship, around 4 in 5 US Protestant pastors (81%) say their church has some type of security measure in place, according to a study from Lifeway Research. Still, more than 1 in 6 (17%) say they don’t use any of the seven potential measures included in the study, and 2% aren’t sure.