pistol packing pastor

[cctcaden]

Had a great conversation with my church pastor about who around Amarillo has a good chl class for he and his wife. With what happened today in Florida I believe every man who stands behind a pulpit needs to be packing. I just need to trademark "The Reverend" before Taurus does.

[kjolly]

The pastor has the best view of everything happening in the church. Whether a pastor can make the comitment to defend his church can be a major issue for some.

[longtooth]

The pastor has the best view of everything happening in the church. Whether a pastor can make the comitment to defend his church can be a major issue for some.

That is exactly what my wife said at breakfast this morn.

[wgoforth]

A number of us call ourselves PPP"s...pistol packin preachers. In a talk I gave Sat to a group of preachers at a quarterly study in Waco, the question was asked "How many of you preachers have ever been threatened?" Probably a full 1/3 of the hands went up. There are around 100 church shootings a year, and does not include other forms of violence, arson and vandalism. I have worked with 3 congregations which have been vandalized, and often wondered what would have happened had I accidentaly walked in on one in progress.

[howdy]

The Pastor does not have the best view at my Church.

I am in the choir and I sit third row center behind the pulpit. I have a clear view of the entire congregation. The Pastor sits side-ways the majority of the service, and he is busy making eye contact with the members during his sermon . I am watching everyone coming in the doors and anyone that stands up. If someone shoots at the Pastor, there is a very good chance that someone (pastor or choir member) will get shot. Our last Pastor had his CHL (I taught his course) but I never asked if he carried in Church. He knew I carried there. My new Pastor is more of a "do lunch" kind of guy and I seriously doubt he even owns a gun. The choir wears robes, and that would make getting to my handgun fairly slow. I would yell "GUN" and hunker down behind the chairs and get the gun out hopefully before I am a victim. The question is do I engage the active shooter if he is not presently shooting in my direction. That is the fastest way to have him start shooting in my and the choirs direction. The sanctuary is large and depending on the gun I am carrying (Glock or LCP), I may not want to risk a long shot and maybe hitting an innocent. Crimson Trace lasers on both guns make me more confident I could be precise under pressure. I know several other members that carry in the congregation and they are evenly dispersed throughout the sanctuary. People WOULD eventually be shooting back at the bad guy. He is going to get shot. It just depends on how many people he hurts before that happens.

[wgoforth]

Preachers should have a code, something innoculous during the sermon like "Jimmie, isn't that RIGHT?" And Jimmie then knows the preacher is seeing something not kosher on the right, observe and perhaps call 911 IF there is time. It may be nothing, but LEO's won't mind (I am told).