The Right to Carry in the House of God
By: Guest Blogger
Lots of people in this country have guns. Most of the time, people have them in their homes because they either don’t have access to security providers like www.securitysystemspecials.com or they are supplementing their current home security with the presence of a firearm.
Makes sense to a lot of people, but what about outside the home? Should you be allowed to carry a gun in the mall, at the store, or even in church?
Some people will argue that, as long as you qualify, you have all the freedom in the world to exercise your second amendment rights. Others will argue against it and question why you would ever want to bring such a deadly weapon into the church.
Both are valid views but, in the end, the question still remains. To answer the question, we must explore the issue in greater detail by looking at where both camps are coming from in the argument.
The Sandy Hook tragedy came less than six months after another tragic and senseless act of violence in Aurora, Colorado. Both incidents had three things in common. They both involved individuals with questionable mental states, both involved high-powered guns and both happened in unexpected places where large groups of people gather.
Ever since this string of gun-related attacks, we have been impacted in various ways. Children are afraid to go to school, parents of victims cry out for change and some people avoid gatherings altogether, now, fearing that a job, university campus, restaurant or, yes, even church could be the next news headline.
All the while our nation divides itself between those that are for stricter gun regulation and those that are not.
Those that argue for strict gun regulation want many things including the ban of sales of high-capacity magazines, no sales on military-grade assault rifles and more in-depth background checks. They believe that by removing the gun from the equation, you ultimately remove the problem of murder and violence on such a large scale.
Those that are against strict gun regulation believe that the individuals are to blame since guns, while deadly, are, as objects, inert until placed in the hands of those who would do harm. They believe that removing a law-abiding citizen’s ability to purchase military-grade weaponry effectively prevents them from defending themselves against the “real bad guys.”
So what do these tragedies, their impacts on our lives and the spawning of these two vastly opposed views mean for the church-goer who wants to carry?
It means that you or anyone else planning to exercise your second amendment rights in the House of God need to be aware of a couple of things. First and foremost, if you have the right and your state allows you to carry a concealed firearm and you are licensed, then technically you are not doing anything illegal. That, however, does not mean you go around showing your friends or making a scene about it.
You should also seriously evaluate your reasons for carrying in church. Some people might want to do it because they fear their gathering could be the next victim. After all, who could have imagined someone would open fire on a bunch of students or a group of moviegoers? You might think that it’s a precautionary measure to protect yourself from any “gun-wielding madmen” that decide to pay your congregation a visit.
It’s not outside the realm of possibility but it’s important to remember that while a gun could help you defend yourself, it could also escalate the violence and the tragedy. In the end, it’s really up to the individual and the laws that govern the state where he or she worships.
And just remember that while a gun on its own is inert, that changes the minute ANYONE picks it up. Even if you’re a law-abiding citizen, bringing a gun to church for defensive reasons or otherwise instantly raises the risk of incident.
for a story in Saturday's editions that a state-certified instructor will teach the first 10-hour class in the fellowship hall March 2. It covers how to safely handle firearms.
