"Packing" at church?

enduraguy · #1

Im starting this thread to see if anyone else carries (yes a handgun) at church. Its not that I don't feel safe in my local house of worship, but these days you just never know. My pastor actually brought this subject up a couple weeks ago. Along the lines of he knows of few of us have permits and he has no problem with us carrying and he actually wanted to have a more in depth discussion on that, but that was for another day bla bla bla. Small southern Baptist church. After that day, I've been wearing my Glock 26 pretty much everywhere now including church. Anyone else?

The Deacon · #2

I'm not a churchgoer, but the law in SC is that a CWP holder can only enter a house of worship armed with the express consent of its leadership. I also know there are a fair number of churches in this area that openly welcome CWP holders, and others that do not and, if I ever decide to attend services, I'll choose one of the CWP friendly ones.

xceptnl · #3

I carry in my place of worship. It's not the during I am concerned with, more the getting to and leaving from that I want to have my bases covered.

chuck_roxas45 · #4

There have been a few shootings in various places of worship here. If I go, I'll carry with or without consent.

xceptnl · #5

chuck_roxas45 wrote:There have been a few shootings in various places of worship here. If I go, I'll carry with or without consent.

Better to be asked to leave if exposed than to be exposed (naked) by not having it when needed!

eric m. · #6

A small country Bible church, the Pastor and I encourage members to carry concealed. We take them out to go over proper safe handling of their firearm and shoot till our heart is content. We have another deacon in the church that made a safe "shooting range" on his property so we don't have to deal with the nuts at the range! Defense of one's life, or the life of others is absolutely authorized! :)

Evil D · #7

chuck_roxas45 wrote:There have been a few shootings in various places of worship here. If I go, I'll carry with or without consent.

That is sort of the idea behind concealed carry. All it takes is one person to save lives by stopping a bad guy for people to see, but the media would never report on it.

Blerv · #8

It's only a problem of it's seen, right? I would make sure your concealed carry is concealed.

.357 mag · #9

I don't have my carry yet. Illinois pass CCL and we were able to apply Jan. 5. My training ran behind because of weather and I was able to apply on the 12th. I've already talked to the pastor and they are not going to put up a no carry sign so I will be carry come late April.

xceptnl · #10

.357 mag wrote:I don't have my carry yet. Illinois pass CCL and we were able to apply Jan. 5. My training ran behind because of weather and I was able to apply on the 12th. I've already talked to the pastor and they are not going to put up a no carry sign so I will be carry come late April.

Congrats to you and the hopefully 1000s of other Illinois residents who can finally exercise their constitutional rights.

eric m. · #11

Blerv wrote:It's only a problem of it's seen, right? I would make sure your concealed carry is concealed.

No brandishing/out of pocket or holster allowed! Why give up the advantage of the element of surprise! The people that know you are carrying are in the church. The people outside the church don't! :)

Blerv · #12

eric m. wrote:No brandishing/out of pocket or holster allowed! Why give up the advantage of the element of surprise! The people that know you are carrying are in the church. The people outside the church don't! :)

Yea...I said to hide it better. What did you read?

I don't tote guns around but know plenty of them you can hide in a coat pocket holster quite well. One of my EDC flashlights weighs 14oz and rides there just fine.

eric m. · #13

Blerv wrote:Yea...I said to hide it better. What did you read?

I don't tote guns around but know plenty of them you can hide in a coat pocket holster quite well. One of my EDC flashlights weighs 14oz and rides there just fine.

Easy! I was just agreeing with you! :)

xceptnl · #14

Blerv wrote:One of my EDC flashlights weighs 14oz and rides there just fine.

LoL, that is a serious carry light. Some pocket pistols don't compete with that.

chuck_roxas45 · #15

xceptnl wrote:Better to be asked to leave if exposed than to be exposed (naked) by not having it when needed!

I agree. :D

Evil D wrote:That is sort of the idea behind concealed carry. All it takes is one person to save lives by stopping a bad guy for people to see, but the media would never report on it.

With the anti gun atmosphere that the media and our national police is engendering here, I will probably hesitate to save a stranger's life since I certainly will be made out to be the bad guy in such a situation. If the BG just happens to have any kind of "politician" behind him, using a gun to save lives will ruin my life. No mistake about that. I will use my firearm to protect my loved ones though, whatever the consequences are.

xceptnl · #16

chuck_roxas45 wrote: No mistake about that. I will use my firearm to protect my loved ones though, whatever the consequences are.

Exactly. I would rather be in prison, than have my loved ones in the ground.

Not to get off topic, but this is why I carry .... in some cases where I shouldn't!

JNewell · #17

xceptnl wrote:Better to be asked to leave if exposed than to be exposed (naked) by not having it when needed!

Blerv wrote:It's only a problem of it's seen, right? I would make sure your concealed carry is concealed.

eric m. wrote:No brandishing/out of pocket or holster allowed! Why give up the advantage of the element of surprise! The people that know you are carrying are in the church. The people outside the church don't! :)

Concealed means concealed...and in this case, the congregation said "amen."

Blerv · #18

eric m. wrote:Easy! I was just agreeing with you! :)

Oh sorry. Got confused :D

The Deacon · #19

Blerv wrote:It's only a problem of it's seen, right? I would make sure your concealed carry is concealed.

That depends. On the one hand, there's a measure of truth to the adage that "it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6", so unless you know or suspect a place has metal detectors, there some rationale for discreet carry, even if it involves civil disobedience. On the other, at least here in SC, if someone calls the cops about a "man with a gun" you'll be in trouble if you're someplace where your CWP is invalid, even if the gun was properly concealed and all they really saw was a nondescript bulge under your shirt or jacket. In the context of churchgoing, that means you would be in trouble if you had not received specific permission to carry there. Sure, you can reduce the risk of that by carrying something very small, but then you're in pretty much the same boat as the adult who still carries a small swatch of their "blankie" in their wallet. It may bring some comfort, but doesn't offer much in the way of protection.

Blerv · #20

All good stuff, Paul :) .

Permission is always best. If it's not possible I would sit near an exit with a roll of quarters. Kapooya! :p

That or assume the best for 6 hours a month. Public shootings are still a very low fatality rate. At least the concern for them FAR outweighs your probable danger.