Gun Laws - Church - Gun Policy - Church Security

Since the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT gun policy has been on the top of the agenda for both Washington and local state legislators. Based on the political makeup of your state new legislation has been introduced to support gun rights, as well as, to restrict the constitutional rights of gun owners. Below are highlights from a few states that had pending legislation that could apply o places of worship.

From: The New Republic

Georgia
Charles Gregory, a freshman state representative that the Atlantic dubbed “one of the most zealously pro-gun legislators in America,” introduced four bills that would largely obliterate any restrictions on carrying firearms in Georgia. The bills would declare that “evil resides in the heart of the individual, not in material objects” and would allow people to carry guns pretty much anywhere, including college campuses and churches. It would also prohibit the governor from suspending guns sales during an emergency. Gregory represents a district that includes Kennesaw, the only place in America where it is required for households to own at least one gun.


Virginia
A bill proposed by Del. Bob Marshall would require school districts to designate at least one qualified person to carry a concealed weapon on school grounds. Gov. Bob McDonnell has said there should be a discussion on whether people with concealed-carry permits should be allowed to carry firearms in schools, but he has not gone as far as saying it should be required. Meanwhile, two Northern Virginia lawmakers have introduced legislation that would close the state’s gun-show loophole, which allows unlicensed arm dealers to sell at gun shows without conducting background checks.

Security at Church: How will this apply to your facility if it runs a school? It will be important to see how this will apply to you if you are renting out a school facility to hold your church service.

Florida
Two lawmakers are pushing a bill that would allow state agencies and local governments to decide whether they want to prohibit concealed firearms inside public buildings and at some public events. Currently, a concealed-carry license allows Floridians to carry a weapon in most places in the state. The law is likely to face resistance in the GOP-controlled legislature, and some legislators are already arguing that the restrictions proposed by the bill violate the Second Amendment.

Link to Article

Protecting Our Churches - "Pray, Watch, Work"

Note: The below article was written by Bob Perkins. Bob served and retired from the Louisville Police Department in Kentucky and then went on to finish a second career as the Police Chief for the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's Police Department (Louisville, KY). Bob helped to Co-Found the Vigilance Church Security Conference, and has have been an authority on the topic of Church Safety and Security for years.  Bob has done an excellent job bring scripture into this conversation and helping to focus our minds from an academic basis. 

PROTECTING OUR CHURCHES

 By: Bob Perkins

In the book of Nehemiah, chapter 4, the strategy of the Jewish faithful of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was to pray, watch and work.

The enemies of Israel planned to strike during the time that the Jews were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.  This was after they had returned from captivity by the Babylonians.  Because of these threats “half of the servants carried on the work while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates", (verse 16).

In verse 17 we find that "Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon." 

As I travel and speak with leaders within our churches, denominations and conventions about church safety and security - inevitably the topic of weapons within our churches is debated.  In my thirty-four years experience in law enforcement, I have come to charge the leadership to look at four different options.

1. The best scenario for members to carry weapons within our churches in an effort to provide safety and security is best left to those members trained within law enforcement.  Many of our churches have sworn and experienced law enforcement officers within their walls.  They have been trained and tested when and how to use deadly force.  In this scenario "liability" is transferred, not entirely, but in a large portion to the governing agency in which that officer is sworn.

It is imperative that the leadership of our churches discuss and decide where these officers should be stationed within the sanctuary during the service.

2. The next option is the use of retired law enforcement or current trained military personnel in providing safety and security within our churches.  These persons have been tested and trained in the use of deadly force with weapons and should be able to provide adequate coverage.  In this scenario though, in the case that deadly force is used, the transfer of liability is not available.  Leadership within our churches need to be fully aware that in the event anyone uses deadly force within the boundaries of the church property and that person was authorized by the church to use such force,  a legal battle is probable.

In the event your church allows retired law enforcement or current military personnel to carry weapons or use such weapons, they must be trained by certified instructors on a semi-annual basis.  This is the minimum.  This training would not only include the physical use of such weapons, but also local, state and federal laws must also be incorporated.  Just as important, the mental capacity of this person needs to be evaluated as it pertains to taking the life of an individual.  All such training must be documented and kept for at least seven years for each person.

3. Another option I would not recommend but often I find in churches, allow untrained members to carry weapons on church property without any prior law enforcement, military or professional training.  This often is a very sensitive issue within churches. These persons are highly respected, in leadership positions, or able to persuade their church that they “know what they are doing" in the use of their weapons.  If the church allows these persons to carry and use such deadly weapons, the height of legal liability is magnified.

4. I am asked often if pastors who share God's word from the pulpit should carry deadly weapons concealed on their person while in such pulpits.  I truly feel this is not a good practice.  Pastors should be like our missionaries who share God's word and love within third world countries.  These missionaries and pastors should be filled with the Holy Spirit and know that at any time, they could be attacked and/or persecuted for what they are sharing with others.  If a pastor or missionary is carrying a concealed weapon, there will be times while they are sharing God's wisdom and love that, they will come to feel the presence of such weapon on their person.  It's at this point and for this reason the pastor or missionary is distracted from the totality of what they are sharing to honor God's kingdom.  It is the responsibility of other members within the church to provide such protection for the pastor.

As Nehemiah wrote in chapter 4, before discussing and implementing any use of deadly force with weapons, members are to first pray and ask God for guidance.   As with anything we do within our lives, we should first ask God how we can honor His kingdom with our actions.  The use of deadly force can and will lead to the taking of precious lives and/or inflicting serious physical injury.  It is important to study and know God's word from His bible. 

Other scriptures where you may look:

Psalm 122: 6-7, "May peace be within your walls, and prosperity within our palaces."

Psalm 4: 8, "For you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety." 

Proverbs 133, "But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil."

James 1: 5, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

Remember Nehemiah's strategy which was to pray, watch and work.

Guns in Church? An Armed Citizen's Perspective

Note: This article is written by Matt Larson. Matt is writing from the prospective of being an armed citizen. Matt is not a LEO; however, he does have extensive experience in emergency operations as a former fire and rescue chief and paramedic. Matt does a great job in this article presenting information on current laws and regulations related to carrying guns. Matt also does a fantastic job stressing the importance of gun safety!

Guns in Church?  An Armed Citizen's Perspective

By: Matt Larson

Throughout the United States, more and more private citizens are lawfully carrying firearms concealed on their person for protection.  In every state but one (Illinois), some form of lawful concealed carry is in place.  In most states, any law abiding citizen who meets minimum training standards must be given a permit to carry a firearm upon application.  In three states, no permit is required – anyone who can lawfully own a gun can carry it concealed.

In a few states, lawfully armed citizens are prohibited from carrying in places of worship. These states are:

· Georgia (Bill in committee to allow carry) {Updated}
· Arkansas
· Louisiana
· Michigan
· Missouri (unless given permission by the minister or similar official)
· Mississippi
· North Dakota
· South Carolina (unless authorized)
· Texas
· Utah (if posted)

Statistically speaking, if your church is not in one of these states, Illinois, or the District of Columbia, the overwhelming probability is that one or more persons in your congregation are armed.

But having an organized, formalized armed response team is another matter entirely.  I would strongly encourage any church considering organizing such a team get an attorney involved from the outset.  There are a great many legal pitfalls here, and having competent legal counsel is vital.  Just one example is that in many states, if you are employed as a security guard – even as a volunteer – your concealed carry permit does not permit you to carry a firearm in that capacity.

All of that said, I am writing this more from the perspective of the armed citizen, and I am going to leave the organizational aspects to others.  Two excellent articles have already been posted here on these topics, and I would advise anyone interested in the field to read them.

I want to talk about 4 things in this article.  The first is safety, and some of the safety measures that should be in place where people are going to be armed.  Then, I want to discuss the three phases of an armed conflict: preparation, the fight, and the aftermath.

Safety

Safety is and must always be the first concern.  Take, for example, the recent tragic death of a young parishioner in a Tampa, Florida church.  A member of the congregation was showing a firearm to another member.  He believed that he had unloaded the gun, and handed it to the other person.  That person pointed the gun at the wall of the closet they were in and pulled the trigger.  The gun discharged, and the bullet passed through the wall and struck a young woman in the head, fatally wounding her.

There are 4 cardinal rules of firearm safety:

· ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

· NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO DESTROY

· KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER TIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

· BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND IT

The incident above violated all four, and a life was lost as a result.  Beyond that, there was no sufficient reason for the gun to have been handled there and then. 

But the incident raises a valid safety concern.  If you are going to have an organized group of people carrying firearms in your church, you need to provide a safe area for any unavoidable handling of the guns.  This includes a safe direction in which to orient the firearm when handling it, such as an outside brick or concrete wall, a sand bucket, or a commercial product designed to absorb an unintended discharge.

Preparation

Preparation encompasses everything one does before the outset of violent hostilities.  This includes training, mindset and practice.  I'll be blunt – if your only training was the 2 hour long class needed to get your permit and your only practice is standing in a range booth calmly punching holes in stationary pieces of paper, you are not trained to use a gun in a defensive situation.  If you are not mentally prepared to align the sights of your pistol on another human being and kill him or here, you are not ready to use a gun in a defensive situation.  If you never practice with your firearm, you are not ready to use a gun in a defensive situation. 

In my opinion, anyone who carries a firearm for protection should invest in quality training on at least an annual basis.  There are many qualified defensive shooting instructors throughout the country who offer classes for the armed citizen.  Defensive shooting is a shooting discipline unto itself.  You must learn to draw from the holster while moving.  You must learn to shoot while moving.  You must learn not just how, but when to shoot.  These are perishable skills, and you will need to refresh them from time to time.  As a well known shooting author once said, "Thinking yourself armed because you own a gun is like thinking yourself a musician because you own a piano".

Mindset encompasses the will to deploy force against another human being, potentially including taking a human life.  This is a moral and ethical decision that every person who owns a firearm for defense should seriously consider.  One must understand that the criminal doesn't struggle with this issue – for many serious criminals violence is a way of life, and they will deploy it at will.  Understand that the gun is not a talisman which will protect you from harm by it's mere presence. Understand that once the gun has been drawn, the conflict is going to end with the assailant surrendering or with bloodshed.  Once you have rung that bell, it cannot be un-rung. 

Practice is necessary to preserve the skills you have learned.  Shooting skills are perishable and degrade with time.  I would strongly urge anyone who carries a gun for protection to actively participate in IDPA, USPSA, Steel Challenge, or any other shooting sport that requires you to shoot while moving, shoot at moving targets, etc.  If your only training and practice is to stand in one place and shoot at a stationary paper target, then the chances are that you will stand in one place and trade gunfire with an assailant.  This is a proven, time tested recipe for getting yourself killed.

 The fight

Hopefully, it never comes to this, the actual life-and-death fight to save yourself or someone else from imminent death or great bodily injury.  This is the moment every serious student of the defensive pistol trains to avoid at all costs.

But the bad guys get to make plans, too.  And sometimes their plans work out better than ours.

I am not going to get into shoot / don't shoot criteria here.  The law varies from state to state, and this is a topic you should have picked up in training.  Know your local laws. 

I just want to touch on a few points here.  The first is that when it is time to fight, fight.   Consider the nightmare scenario of an intruder opening fire in a church service.  People are being hurt or killed.  This is what is known as an "active shooter" scenario. This is no time for discussion.  This is no time for "fairness".  You are not obligated to warn the shooter, or give him a chance to surrender, or talk him into seeing the nature of his wicked ways.  All of that is just a good way to get yourself or someone else killed.

If the fight is on, you need to finish it now.  If you have a clear shot on the active shooter, take it.  Prosecute the fight to the conclusion – shoot him to the ground.  Continue shooting until the threat stops. 

Understand that real life shootings are nothing like the movies or TV.  Rare indeed is the single gunshot than instantly incapacitates an assailant, who then falls bloodlessly and silently to the floor.  Reality is much uglier.  Even after suffering a mortal wound, a human being can continue to fight for a couple minutes or more. A bad guy can fire a lot of shots in those couple of minutes…

Make sure the fight is over before you holster your gun.  Remember that wolves travel in packs, and do a good scan of the area before you assume everything is over.

The aftermath

The worst has happened.  You’ve been forced to shoot another human being to protect yourself and / or someone else.  The assailant is lying on the ground in a pool of blood, perhaps thrashing and screaming.  People are panicked.  Hopefully, nobody else is injured, but that may well not be the case.

What you say and do in the next few minutes and hours will have an impact that lasts the rest of your life. 

Hopefully, your church has a disaster plan that includes handling medical emergencies, and at least basic first aid can be administered to the wounded.  Which brings us to a serious item to consider – how to handle the wounded assailant.  Do you attempt to treat him?  How do you know he doesn't have another weapon?  These are things you should consider long before you have to make the decision.  Remember that whole preparation thing?

In short order, the police are going to arrive, along with ambulances, fire trucks, reporters and gawkers of all kinds.  The first thing you need to do is avoid having a "blue on blue" situation. 

The police are arriving at the scene of a shooting.  They don't know you, or the guy on the floor with all the holes in him.  They are going to secure the scene and make sure nobody else is harmed.  If you're standing in the middle of the room with a gun in your hand, things can go bad in a hurry.  We naturally turn toward sounds that we don't expect, and if you have a gun in your hand and turn toward the arriving police officers, they may well take you as a threat and respond accordingly.

Having someone meet the responding officers and let them know that the fight is over and the guy with the gun is a good guy can save your life.  Consider this in your preparation phase.

OK, so the police are there and you've made sure you're not going to be mistaken for a bad guy and shot.  Now what?

Remember, the police do not know you.  What they do know is that someone has been shot, and someone (you) did the shooting.  Expect to be ordered to the ground, very probably at gunpoint.  Expect to be handcuffed, very probably roughly.  Expect to be searched.

Do not resist.  Do not argue.  Comply immediately with all commands.  Remember that the officer does not yet know you are the good guy – and he or she wants to go home to the family at the end of the shift.  That means ensuring their safety by securing the potential threat.  You are that potential threat.

So now the police are in control of the scene.  You're out of the woods, right?  Wrong.  What you say and do in the following minutes and hours can be the difference between going home to your family and going to prison for a couple decades.

You've just been in a fight for your life.  You are flooded with adrenaline, you are emotionally compromised and you are in no condition to give a detailed accounting of what just happened.  Understand a couple of things here.  First, the police officer you talk to initially may very well believe that you did absolutely the right thing.  But they are not the end of the chain – what you say will be considered by the officer's supervisor, a detective or two, a prosecutor and maybe even a grand jury.  Second, you're not going to be thinking clearly and you're not going to have a clear recollection of everything tat just happened.

As an example, even trained police officers are unable to recall exactly how many shots they fired in a shooting.  Stress plays tricks on the memory.  But if you give a statement and say you fired two rounds when you actually fired 5, somewhere up the chain someone will look at it and think "did he forget, or is he lying?" 

One noted expert in the field of defensive shootings, recommends that you make a very concise initial statement to the police along the lines of:

"Officer, I was attacked by that man.  I was in fear for my life and I defended myself.  There is his weapon (if applicable), there are the witnesses (if applicable), and I will sign a complaint.  I will give you a full statement after speaking with my attorney.  I do not wish to answer any questions at this time without my attorney present." 

People can – and have – talked themselves into a jail cell after a completely justified self-defense shooting.  The things you say now, in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, will be evaluated later by people who are not under stress and who may read something entirely different into your words.

Speaking of people, expect that you will be discussed in the media, savaged in the comment section of your local paper, shredded on internet discussion forums, etc. 

I hope this piece has provided some food for thought.  I don’t want to dissuade anyone from carrying a firearm for protection.  Having been a paramedic for almost 15 years, I have seen what criminals will do to other people to get what they want (or even just for amusement).  I believe in the right to protect oneself.  But I also believe that there are more than a few people out there carrying firearms who have not given all of these issues due consideration.  I hope this article leads to some self-discovery and honest self-evaluation for those who do choose to carry in church and elsewhere.

Be safe out there.

Armed Security in Churches

Note: The below article is written by one of my readers. Gary is a former LEO and is writing primarly from the background of small churches under 100 attendees. Gary illustrates many good points; however, is coming from a different prospective of some of my other contributors to this topic. What I think is important is that we hear the prospective of multiple qualified individuals prior to trying to decide what is best for your congregation. Please feel free to comment. Gary is more than willing to engage in conversation on these issues. 

Armed Security in Churches

By: Gary Martin

The recent accidental shooting and killing of a Florida pastor’s daughter at church has once again ignited the debate about whether or not guns belong in churches.  As a former law enforcement officer, my unequivocal answer is “yes, they do”.  When rare incidents such as this accidental shooting occur, it is important that we as a society keep things in perspective.  In today’s world, it is prudent for churches to take effective steps to protect their congregations from potential violence.  Incidents like this should not be used as an excuse to strip us of our rights to do so.

Churches are “soft targets” and can sometimes be tempting ones, especially to terrorists.  They are not immune from having violent people coming into them and shooting at the congregation or pastor.  Churches have been attacked many times in other countries by terrorists, and there have been several non-terrorist attacks on congregations here in the US as well. There is also the possibility that terrorists are making plans to hit several churches on American soil at the same time in a terror version of “shock and awe”.  While such a massive attack may never materialize, it might be prudent to at least consider it as a possibility, and develop appropriate, effective responses to deal with that contingency should it occur. For more information on this threat, see these links:

http://www.christianemergencynetwork.org/news/al-qaeda-call-for-attacks-on-houses-of-worship

http://johngaltfla.com/wordpress/2012/02/05/how-iran-could-win-a-war-against-israel-and-the-united-states-in-one-hour/

Many security experts, legislators and forward thinking pastors are calling attention to this possibility and are encouraging churches to be prepared to defend themselves. Here’s one example:

http://www.wnd.com/2011/02/259301/

The one thing all church security experts agree on is that for any kind of security preparations, layered defenses are best.  Those layers can involve untrained CCW permit holders up to and including professional active duty law enforcement officers.  Most experts whose opinions I’ve read say that it is appropriate to have armed security guards to help minimize the damage caused by an active shooter before police can arrive.  The hard reality is that a well armed active shooter can cause considerable carnage before the police show up, even with nothing more than a few semi-automatic handguns.

Churches that are designated gun free zones are at much higher risk of large scale loss of life than those that have the option of armed responders who can react immediately.  Where many experts drop the ball, in my opinion, is their insistence that only active duty law enforcement serve on church security teams.  Many churches don’t have active duty police officers in attendance, don’t have enough of them, or can’t afford to hire them.  Even then, there is precedence for uniformed police officers doing special duty and private uniformed guards being the first ones killed in an attack.  The best defense against an active shooter is to quickly meet the attack with a strong deadly force response.  If the suspect has many responders to deal with he may quickly be overcome by the sheer difficulty of trying to mentally manage a highly dynamic situation like that, and of having to dodge a hail of bullets coming back at him. 

Here are some resource pools where armed church security guards could be drawn from in a congregation. They are listed in order from minimum to maximum protection.

1. Members of the congregation with no prior law enforcement or military training who have concealed carry permits. In order for this group to be even minimally effective, the church needs to avoid being a gun free zone.  The effectiveness of these volunteers can be greatly enhanced by having them attend formal training for church security. There are many organizations that offer it. In addition to them being more effective tactically with training, they will also be better at making good decisions.  Training may also help to mitigate insurance company concerns.  If however, a church is unwilling or unable to organize formal training due to budget constraints or other reasons, their CCW permit carriers should still be allowed to carry concealed so that they have at least some hope of stopping an active shooter and minimizing the loss of life before law enforcement can arrive several minutes later.  This can be especially important during those times where there may be higher risk of terror incidents against churches.  This may be the only option available to many small churches.

2. Current or past members of the military.  Some of them may have training similar to what law enforcement officers have. And the ones who don’t may still be well prepared mentally and tactically to respond well during a real active shooter incident. Like the first group, they would also have CCW permits, but would have a higher level of training.  It is likely that churches of all sizes could have members of this group in them.

3. Members of the congregation with past law enforcement experience.  While their training may not be as current as active duty officers, and they won’t have the same legal immunities or arrest powers as active duty officers do, they have received training on how to handle armed confrontations. They may also have real world experience doing it from when they were active duty.

4. Plain clothed, active duty police officers.  For any incident that does not involved the brandishing of a weapon, or an active shooter, it is probably best for all other responders to call them from wherever they are in the church at the time, and wait for them to arrive to handle the situation. They are the best option because they have current training, arrest powers, the legal right to detain and question, and have certain legal immunities that no civilian has.  However, they need to be in sufficient numbers, and in locations within the church and parking lots where they can quickly respond.

What I’m proposing is a layered approach where as many of these resource pools that are available are involved in the security for the church.  Who responds first would depend on the threat level.  If it’s just a suspicious person who hasn’t yet reached the point of active shooting or brandishing a weapon, the most highly trained responders should handle it.  However, if there is a sudden outbreak of active shooting, that in my opinion is an “all hands on deck” situation. Whoever is closest should respond immediately, and others should back him/her up as quickly as possible.

One obvious concern with this approach, though, is whether or not CCW permit responders who are not part of the formal security team could get mistaken for one of the bad guys. In my opinion, while it is possible that that could happen, odds are it won’t in most cases. I can’t base that belief on hard empirical evidence, because there have been so few church shootings where a CCW permit holder was allowed to be armed and was able to stop an attack.  What it comes down to is a judgment call as to which is more important: stopping the attack as quickly as possible to save lives or risking a more chaotic situation where the CCW permit holder could be placing himself at risk by being mistaken as a bad guy.  In my personal opinion, the greater risk is to allow the perpetrator to keep shooting at innocent, unarmed people until the formal security team member(s) can arrive.  I am also theorizing that there are likely to be dynamics that can work in favor to lower the risk to the CCW responder:

1.     Witnesses who observed the initial exchange of fire might know who is who.  They may quickly jump to the verbal defense of the CCW permit holder. My expectation is that if they saw him being threatened by the security team or law enforcement officers, they would be almost hysterical in their efforts to protect the good guy by pointing out who he is to other responders.  Security team members and law enforcement officers need to PAY ATTENTION and LOOK for indications like that before just opening fire on someone. They should not be so concerned about their own safety that they’re willing to sacrifice an innocent person’s life by jumping to conclusions when people are screaming at them to not harm a legitimate responder.

2.     The CCW permit holder would probably have the common sense not to fire at the security team, or anyone else who wasn’t firing at him.  The bad guy is the one who keeps firing no matter what. The good guys are the ones he would see showing some restraint as they challenged him to put his weapon down.  If the threat was over with, he would most likely comply with the request without hesitation.

3.     The perpetrator’s behavior, clothing and/or what he is saying could easily tip off responders that he’s the bad guy.  Is he wearing a long trench coat during warm weather to conceal his guns?  Is he screaming “Allah is great” while he’s firing?  Is he shooting at women and children or firing randomly at anyone? Is he firing his gun in a direction where there are no armed responders firing back at him? In contrast, the true responder would ONLY be aiming his gun and/or firing at another armed person who has already fired shots at innocent people, or who was threatening to do so.

4.     If someone on the security team witnessed the initial exchange from a distance, he may already know who is who and can pass that information along to other responders by the most expedient means possible.

When I was an LEO, I received no training whatsoever as to how to distinguish the good guy from the bad guy in active shooting situations, even though I served in a state that had concealed carry laws for decades.  It was just left up to each individual officer to use his best judgment and common sense.  I think this needs to be addressed in the form of more formal training.  If there is someone who is reading this blog who can assemble a list of indicators that responders can look for to distinguish good guys from bad guys when they’re not wearing any clearly distinguishable markings, please ask Brian for permission to publish that list.  However, if possible I would prefer that it be based on empirical evidence, not just speculation as I have engaged in above.

Pastor's Daughter shot at Fla. Church

From: MSNBC

[ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A pastor's daughter was accidentally shot in the head at a church in St. Petersburg, police said.

Investigators told The Associated Press that Moises Zambrana was showing his gun in a small closet to another church member interested in buying a firearm. Zambrana reportedly took out the magazine of the Reuger 9mm weapon but did not know there was a bullet in the chamber.]

Click for Article

Note: Thanks Matt for the story!

Shot at Church Gun Safety Class

"ORLANDO, Fl -- A gun safety class attendee in Orlando, Fla., was accidentally shot in the foot by his instructor, police reported. Robert Frauman Jr., 50, was one of three students at a concealed weapons certification class at Summit Church Saturday, when he was struck by the stray bullet, a church spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel, adding he was "doing well" and the bullet did not hit any bones."
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/02/21/Student-shot-during-gun-safety-class/UPI-87701266772715/


If your church is having a gun safety class for its security team, PLEASE make sure that you emphasis the "SAFETY" part...


From: http://louisianacarry.org/safety/index.htm


Rules of Safe Gun Handling
RULE 1. Treat every gun as if it were loaded.
RULE 2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
RULE 3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
RULE 4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.