TexasCHLforum.com

The Annoyed Man wrote:

apostate wrote:

chasfm11 wrote:Let's suppose that an outsider walks into the church with a gun. Let's also suppose that one of my fellow church members is an LEO or CHL . Without either of us knowing about the other, both of us draw and engage the outsider. Then what? With the threat hopefully neutralized, my next move almost anyplace else would likely be to turn in the direction of the other gunshots. I'm afraid that a LEO/CHL might do the same toward me. Things could get messy from there.

That's a legitimate concern, although one hardly unique to the church environment. A similar chain of events could unfold at a shopping mall, your place of business, or while stopping at H.E.B. for a gallon of milk on the way home.

This is why I made it a point to identify myself to the guys in security at my church.

TAM, do you mean the uniformed guards? Or the "safety team?" If it's the latter, how did you come to know who was on that team?

jdkinman wrote:I don't understand how (some) folks feel the "need" to inform others that they are armed.

I'm not sure if this was directed at me, but if so, I don't feel the need either, at least in general. As I said in my OP:

ClarkLZeuss wrote:I have never confided with [the security guards] that I'm a CHLer. I don't feel the obligation to, except for the hypothetical scenario in which there's an active shooter and I engage him.

My only reason for thinking that it might be a good idea is so that they wouldn't confuse me with an active shooter, if that situation ever arose. Hopefully you can relate to my desire to not be shot by the police. But I think you had a good point:

jdkinman wrote:IF such a situation ever arose, how many people (who now know I'm armed) will do something in a panic like try to run behind me or start shouting, "JD has a gun! Shoot the bad guy, JD, SHOOT HIM!"

And in this case, we're on the same page: I don't want the general population knowing my armed (or even licensed) status. But I'm talking about letting the security guards in on "the secret." Although, Scott had a good point about this:

Scott in Houston wrote:If something were to happen, there would be chaos and panic. The thought that you were also armed would never even enter their minds. They wouldn't "count on" your help or even remember that you may or could help. If they saw you with a gun in the chaos, their reaction wouldn't even change.

I think, however, that this would entirely depend on how well I got to know these police officers. Agreed, if they don't really know me beyond a few conversations, then I won't enter their thinking in a bad situation. However, if we start spending some time at the range together, that might change things.

Rrash wrote:I wouldn't inform anyone, unless you are ready for them to give you a verbal notice.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I agree with Rrash. If you tell them, be ready to either attend church unarmed or look for another church.

Chas.

This has actually been my subconscious hurdle to talking to them. I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one thinking along those lines. My thought-process has been that, from reading some stories on this forum, there seem to be some cops who are not fully informed about church-carry, or CHL in general. Maybe not many, but some, and it would pretty much ruin things if such thinking were held by the cops at my church. They seem to be great folks, though. I've been trying to come up with an off-hand way to broach the topic. Maybe bringing up the Sikh temple or the Colorado theater incidents? I could ask them what their response would be, and I could throw in something like, "What if there are other people at church with guns?"

Too obvious?

I mentioned this in the discussion about the Sikh temple: I have been carrying concealed to our church for a while now, where we have two armed police officers on duty every Sunday. I've said hi to them and made small talk occasionally, but have never confided with them that I'm a CHLer. I don't feel the obligation to, except for the hypothetical scenario in which there's an active shooter and I engage him. I would want our security guards to know in advance that I'm one of the good guys. But I'm not real sure about how to initiate that conversation.

Are you in a similar situation at your church where they have armed security? How have you approached them with this topic?

I know we've talked about church carry in general, or the matter of informing other members of your church about your CHL status, but I don't recall this specific question coming up before. Thanks for your input.