Author: Grumpy
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Gun Mishaps & Negligent Discharges
U.S.A. — A stunning survey that revealed more than half of Protestant churches across the country rely on “armed congregants as part of their security plan” has just recently been reported by Lifeway Research, even though the poll was taken last September.
The revelation comes 3 ½ years after a gunman opened fire at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, only to be shot dead by armed parishioner Jack Wilson just a few seconds later. The shooting, which was live streamed at the time—the video warped across social media—shows at least a half-dozen armed citizens in the church sanctuary with drawn guns after Wilson fired the single shot that stopped killer Keith Thomas Kinnunen before he could wreak more havoc.
At the time, Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, ripped into anti-gunners.
“The gun control crowd has been predictably silent,” Gottlieb said following the December 2019 incident, “because the use of firearms by private citizens in defense of themselves and others—especially a large crowd of worshippers in a church—just doesn’t fit the extremist gun control narrative.”
He even had some blistering remarks for then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and fellow Democrats for their “deafening silence.”
However, Biden had been critical of Texas gun laws in September of that year, which earned the Delaware Democrat plenty of scorn from gun rights advocates, including Gottlieb. At the time, Biden contended the relaxed Texas gun law was “irrational.” The December shooting demonstrated otherwise as Wilson and other armed churchgoers were able to immediately react.
But the Lifeway Research report, now coming to light nearly nine months after it was conducted, has some other revelations that might elicit silence from the gun control crowd.
As noted by Fox News, “Approximately 81% of churches — or four in five pastors — said they have at least one security measure to prevent potential attacks.”
“Fifty-seven percent of pastors claimed to have ‘an intentional plan for an active shooter situation,’ which was the most popular option,” Fox News reported. “The second most-cited option had armed church members. Radio communications among security personnel and a no-firearms policy in church facilities were the next most popular security options, at 26% and 21%, respectively.”
The Lifeway Research report notes, “When asked about their protocols when they gather for worship, around 4 in 5 U.S. Protestant pastors (81%) say their church has some type of security measure in place.”
Fifty-seven percent have “an intentional plan for an active shooter situation.” They understandably do not provide specific details, but the mention of armed church members is significant.
The survey also revealed that security measures increase in churches with more worshippers in attendance. “The larger the church, the more likely it is to have armed private security personnel on site and radio communication among security personnel,” the Lifeway Research report acknowledged. “Churches with 250 or more in attendance are the most likely to have armed church members (74%) and uniformed police officers on site (27%). Those large congregations are also among the most likely to have an intentional plan for an active shooter situation (74%).”
Having armed security at a church is not such a new idea. Back in December 2007, following a fatal shooting at a mission in Arvada, 24-year-old Matthew John Murray showed up at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. He killed two sisters and wounded their father in the church parking lot before entering the building, where he was confronted by Jeanne Assam, who was part of that church’s security team. She opened fire, wounding Murray, who then took his own life.
According to the Lifeway Research report, approximately 1 in 5 pastors have a “no firearm” policy in their church, while almost the same number have armed private security. Only one percent apparently have metal detectors at church entrances.
An attack on the Covenant School in Nashville in March showed such shooting incidents are not confined to church sanctuaries. In that shooting, killer Audrey Hale entered the building by shooting her way through glass doors before fatally shooting three adults and three children. Nashville police responded immediately and, as shown by body cam video, entered the building, rushed to find the shooter and brought the incident to a halt within four minutes.
The Nashville Tennessean is reporting that Hale, a transgender person, died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso, according to an autopsy report issued Monday. She was hit in the torso and left arm, in the head and in the right thigh.
CCRKBA’s Gottlieb praised the rapid response by Nashville officers in a prepared statement, in which he also criticized anti-gunners for opposing armed school security, while pushing more laws to disarm law-abiding citizens.
“Those on the left do not want school resources officers on the job,” he said. “They argue for reducing police manpower overall while dangerous, violent people wait to prey on our most vulnerable citizens; school children and older Americans. And then they demand honest people give up their guns.
“The reason most Americans own firearms is to protect themselves against mentally unstable, violent people and evil, dangerous criminals,” Gottlieb said at the time.
The Lifeway Research report offers a reminder that armed private citizens continue to play a key role in what amounts to public safety, even in places of worship.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
———————————————————————————- To me at least this just goes to show how far that this country has gome down the tube of moral decline. That & you just know that it is just going to get worse before there is any improvement! So be careful out there as The Devil is mighty busy right now. Grumpy
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Total War Rome 2: Legionary
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Happy 1st Day of Summer! NSFW
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Fiat-Revelli 1914
Don’t let ‘em fool you — these are guns are for experts!
Top to bottom: S&W Custom 640 by Gemini Customs, classic Colt Agent,
Roy’s beater S&W 340 and an old cut-down Charter .44 Special.
Yeah, I know, we all have one or more of them, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In experienced hands — and I mean near-expert hands — they are effective, accurate, reliable and highly concealable. But frankly, too many inexperienced shooters have them, and in most of their hands, the small revolver is an inadequate tool with the potential for being a real problem if called upon to be used.
It’s been my experience most who carry a small-frame revolver can’t shoot it worth beans, and hardly ever (maybe never?) shoot it anyway. In their mind’s eye they have themselves whipping it out, engaging a bad guy, the bad guys does down with solid, centered hits, and the good guy is a hero.
In reality most people shoot poorly with these little guns, don’t carry a reload, can’t manipulate them well and have little or no idea of the gun’s true abilities. They’re a potential danger to themselves and everyone around them.
Why do we seem to think we can buy one of these guns, load it, and for some magical reason — suddenly know everything about it?
A S&W 6″ Model 14 and a 5-screw 36 on the right. At a lasered 37 yards,
using Federal .38 Special148 gr. Match wadcutters the 14 gave 2.25″ and the 36 about 3.6″.
Not bragging — just showing the little guns can shoot if you know what you’re doing.
Astoundingly enough, the J-frame was spot-on (a rarity) and I favored
the top of the red zone as I shot, dropping the shots right in.
The Problem At Hand
Are small-frame revolvers actually expert’s guns? Absolutely. But, they’re alluring because they’re easy to carry. Few are willing to compromise with comfort, and are drawn to the lightweight and small size of these appealing little shooters. But is that bad?
It’s not — if you take the time to learn to run these tiny terrors. If a gun-store-counter-commando talks you into buying one for your wife or yourself, there’s more to the game than simply loading it and putting it into your pocket. Much more.
Don’t be fooled though — the guns are inherently accurate, and I’ve actually shot old-time PPC courses (a form of police target shooting out to 50 yards) and used a 2.5″ Model 19 .357 K-frame. You’d be stunned at the groups possible at 50 yards, and a tuned gun in good hands can deliver 5″ or 6″ — and better! — easily at that range. The scary thing is so can some J-frames in good hands.
Not long ago at Gunsite, with a crew from S&W, we shot 2″ to 5″ J-frame .38s out to 100 yards, making regular hits on man-sized steel. But these were experienced shooters, and most importantly, everyone knew how to run a double action revolver, staging the trigger to get accuracy at the same level you can get shooting single action. And that’s the biggest secret to these little guns (or any gun) — trigger control.
More Secrets
Like anything small, a J-frame or equivalent can be fumbly so you have to train your fingers to work smaller grips, smaller triggers, harder actions, cylinder releases tending to be sticky and tiny cylinders. Not to mention those usually inadequate sights and short sight radius. But, if you seek the training you should, from people who understand these guns, you’ll find them to be elegant compromises when it comes to personal protection working guns. If you’re willing to work at it.
As we’ve chatted about before in these pages, sight picture is important, but trigger control is paramount. It’s especially true with these little guns, as the slightest wobble can toss a round into the next county. If you gain control over the stagy-hard-gritty trigger on many of these guns, you’ll be rewarded with accuracy sure to surprise you.
When I was a range officer for a short time on the police department, we would have detectives attempt to qualify with their various 2″ guns. This was the very early 1980s and wheelguns were the backbone of police work. Plus, wearing a Colt Detective or Chief’s Special was the hallmark of a detective. Call it their badge of office.
However it was the rare bird who could actually shoot one. Most would show up with their old duty belt and 6″ Model 10 and shoot that. I would cry foul, but at the time, it was allowed. But now and again, I’d see one try with a 2″ and snort in disgust, “This is a piece of crap and it won’t hit a thing at this distance!”
“This distance” was usually seven to 15 yards. “Can I borrow it for a sec?” I’d ask. They’d hand off, making harrumphing noises of disgust. I would load with five and, taking a comfortable stance and staging the trigger, could usually place the five in a neat group in the head or center torso of the B27 target. I would then hand the gun back and say something witty and charming like, “Gosh, the gun seems to shoot fine. Perhaps you need to learn how to shoot it? I’d be happy to teach you,” delivered with a big, toothy grin.
I also bought a lot of small guns, cheap, right then and there, and used to keep a $100 bill in my wallet just for that purpose. And it’s too bad, as 15 minutes of training might have had most of them on-target — if they’d only wanted to learn.
And that’s the key, right there in front of us. You need to want to learn. It’s the only way you’ll be safe with these guns. And, it’s the only way you’ll be able to use one and enjoy just how remarkable these little “expert’s guns” truly are. Honest.