Firearms in Church

There is a small sort of media circus surrounding the New Bethel Assemblies of God church in Louisville, Kentucky inviting members to bring unloaded firearms to church.

That seems kind of silly to me.

First of all, I thought everyone carried firearms in church, usually concealed. "God helps those who help themselves" and that sort of thing. I suppose in some states it might be illegal to carry in church, but that would seem to violate the "separation of church and state" wouldn't it? Oh, I forgot, the "separation of church and state" isn't actually in the Constitution of the United States. I made "an honest mistake" (like the Secretary of the Treasury) after hearing that so often from the LWM.

Second, what good is an unloaded firearm? Are they having "Show-and-Tell"? What is the purpose? I guess the point was to show that good people don't commit crimes with firearms. Is that news to anyone? Maybe it is to the LWM. My comments above ignore the fact that:

ALL FIREARMS ARE ALWAYS LOADED!!!

I think I might have mentioned that before. I did here and here. I'll just repost part of that for anyone that doesn't understand:

You should not "treat all firearms as if they are loaded" or "pretend it is loaded" or anything halfway like that. If you "treat it as if it is loaded" then sooner or later you will tell yourself "it really isn't loaded" and then you are asking for trouble.

An example of this idea: During a lecture for a class at Thunder Ranch at one point Clint drew his 1911, dropped the magazine, racked the slide to clear the chamber, then racked it a few more times, then locked the slide back and held it up so everone could see through the mag well and out the ejection port. He asked if we thought the gun was unloaded. When some guys kind of nodded a little (not me, I had an uncomfortable feeling) he dropped the slide and asked "Would any of you let me point this at your chest and press the trigger?"

Honestly, would you point your "unloaded" gun at your child or parent or spouse and press the trigger? All firearms are always loaded.

According to the article, Pastor Ken Pagano said:

All arms are to be holstered. It's a cold-range carry as a show of support for the Second Amendment and First Amendment.

I take it that meant handguns only. How about rifle racks on every pew?

These folks also had some trouble getting insurance for this event. I didn't realize you needed special insurance because your congregation is bringing firearms. I guess I'll have to call my insurance agent before I have anyone over to shoot or hunt. Maybe I should call him to get a special rider the next time I go to a gun show? I guess I need to get out more, but I didn't realize that could be a problem.

I'm not really trying to belittle their efforts, I just don't understand the point of this exercise. Hopefully it will cause some people that are sitting on the fence about whether we should do away with the Constitution or not to come around to the correct side. Maybe next time Pastor Pagano will invite people to bring their rifles along. Better yet, he could invite them to bring their loaded firearms.

If that goes off well then the good Pastor might consider letting them bring their pocket knives if CPB will let them have any.