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jmra wrote:I bet if someone ran the numbers they would discover that OC is something most churches will seldom if ever encounter and spending a lot of time worrying about it is pretty much a waste of time.
I ran the numbers using some very liberal gestimates where firm data was missing and based on those numbers the probabilities suggested that, absent an announcement from the church welcoming OCers, we might encounter an OCer once every couple of years.
As others have stated, addressing these instances individually makes a lot of sense to me. Playing devils advocate (excuse the pun), I wonder how many evil doers would mistakingly assume that a 30.07 sign equated to a gun free zone making the posted church a much greater target than it was previously.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

carlson1 wrote:

Excaliber wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:Well I got the official word tonight. 30.07 signs are going up this week. When my ministry lead person expressed to our head pastor that he was personally uncomfortable with CC at our church, our pastor told him we're not going to ban that because we don't want to be the kind of church that then has to put up metal detectors to make sure that congregants who used to carry obey the signs. Our senior pastor has privately told a friend of mine who carries that he is personally OK with CHL and actually feels safer knowing that there are people in the congregation who carry.

Anyway, I am relieved. If they are going to ban OC, I'd rather that it had been dealt with more subtly by empowering the churches "gatekeepers" (greeters, ushers, etc.) to give effective notice verbally, rather than posting the signs; but I can live with the signs.

I've given this a lot of thought and have discussed these issues extensively in a professional capacity with very thoughtful church leadership teams.

I think the best position is not to post any signs and to adopt a policy that requires that firearms be carried concealed only, with greeters / ushers trained and prepared with cards that explain the policy if someone does show up practicing OC.

Even though OC will soon be legal, to me it would be an indication of poor judgment for someone to show up with an openly carried firearm in church, particularly in view of the fact that the safety of the congregation is better served by keeping potential bad guys guessing about who may be carrying and who is not.

I have told our folks we will be using the "wait and see" approach.

I also agree it would be bad taste to OC in church. One thing folks seem to forget this life should not be just about me, but about others. Why would I want to be a stumbling block to another member over something that doesn't really matter. My pistol hid by my suit coat hurts no one and doesn't hurt me.

I suspect that is what my church would have done, if not for the stink raised by the ministry lead person I've mentioned above.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Well I got the official word tonight. 30.07 signs are going up this week. When my ministry lead person expressed to our head pastor that he was personally uncomfortable with CC at our church, our pastor told him we're not going to ban that because we don't want to be the kind of church that then has to put up metal detectors to make sure that congregants who used to carry obey the signs. Our senior pastor has privately told a friend of mine who carries that he is personally OK with CHL and actually feels safer knowing that there are people in the congregation who carry.

Anyway, I am relieved. If they are going to ban OC, I'd rather that it had been dealt with more subtly by empowering the churches "gatekeepers" (greeters, ushers, etc.) to give effective notice verbally, rather than posting the signs; but I can live with the signs.