CCW in Places of Worship or Faith Based

I and several others at the church I attend carry habitually. The Pastor has voiced his favor of that situation....and asked not to be informed about who carries. I asked him why he doesn't wish to know and he said it involves issues of liability and insurance. While I consider that very screwy I accept it and continue my practice of being armed.

Here in SC it's illegal to carry in a church/temple/mosque without permission from the governing body. Our CCW instructor suggested that we obtain written permission from the senior pastor and or deacons/elders of the church before you can carry there.

Proof that there is still much freedom to be regained in our states.
We must keep chipping away at stupid laws.

From Nebraska here. State law allows concealed carry, but specifies churches (et al) as prohibited UNLESS church (whatever) authorities permit the individual.

We have one active duty deputy. We are friends, but tend to sit apart.

Years ago a co-worker (another lawman) was incredulous I carried all the time, even in church. My response is still the same; "I carry all the time; you think God hasn't noticed yet?"

Any questions should be directed to the Book of Ezra in the Old Testament and the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:1 to 10 or so, about what corrupts a person.

Stumper said:

I and several others at the church I attend carry habitually. The Pastor has voiced his favor of that situation....and asked not to be informed about who carries. I asked him why he doesn't wish to know and he said it involves issues of liability and insurance. While I consider that very screwy I accept it and continue my practice of being armed.

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I think the reasoning is that if you shoot someone who comes in your church to attack the congregants, and then they or their family sues, besides suing you they will sue also the pastor and the church, and if the pastor gave you permission to carry there, neither he nor the church will be able to get off the hook, whereas if he can say he had no idea you were armed he and the church might be able to get out of it.

If and when I visit such a place, and if it is legal to carry, I of course carry the same as I do everywhere else.

Post 56 makes sense and calls into question the laws in many states that specifically require the pastor or board to sign off.
It may not have been the intent but I could see it having a chilling effect on anyone being named as the grantor of such authorization.

Doc7 said:

In Virginia I operate under the "self defense is 'good and sufficient reason' therefore satisfying state law" state of mind and additionally my church is not posted.

However, I will add that I do not know very many people there as we are new the area, and as we recently started attending a Bible study class before the service and I have seen several (men and women) hug each other by way of greeting I have actually stopped carrying for the time being as I am not at a stage of CC in my life where I would feel comfortable having a possibly public conversation with an inquiring individual about it.

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FWIW, the experiences of a great many concealed carriers indicate that the possibility of a person, particularly a stranger, publicly asking about your (suspected or known) carry gun are exceptionally rare, to the point of almost surely being able to say "don't worry that doesn't happen"

Maine actually has a law on the books stating that;
"Shotguns are to be taken to church in case of a Native American attack"

Then again you can also be fined if you keep your Christmas decorations up after New Years Day

My Church, First Baptist Wylie has free CCW/LTC classes.

Yes, and the church is located in a rural town area.....
Given my background and experiences, should something bad happen and I was not prepared/able to protect innocent others.....it would be extremely difficult to deal with the aftermath mentally.
There's a reason sheep have sheep herders.

If law says I can't carry their . Then those places I don't visit . Simple In Ky its only a few places..

Our official church policy is no policy!

I believe you said that you were in Tennessee. You can generally carry inside a church in TN if you have a handgun carry permit. I personally would not tell anyone that you are carrying. To me, the less that know the better off you are.

Our pastor and board approve. Our security team is armed and know those who carry who aren't on the team.

I absolutely carry at church 100% of the time.
Think about it for just a minute. If your goal was to kill as many Christians as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Were would you look? On any Sunday just drive around and pick a nice juicy target. There are literally thousands of them. All full of targets with their backs turned to you.
Just a matter of time before they figure it out. So I carry....

A church is just another building... So yes i carry when i go.

I've always wondered:

How is it not a violation of Separation of Church and State for the state to declare firearms cannot be carried in places of worship? How can the state tell churches what people may or may not do in their houses of worship.

The state cannot forbid Catholics from taking the Eucharist, Orthodox from venerating icons, or Pentecostals from speaking in tongues. They cannot prohibit Sikhs from carrying daggers. How can they prohibit the carry of handguns or even set church policy?

In a few places where church carry is prohibited by law, armed members take turns outside as armed security.

Arkansas repealed its prohibition on church carry a few years ago, but a friend belongs to a church that's a member of some national organization which prohibits carry no matter what state they're in. His pastor said his policy was "don't ask, don't tell", but that doesn't change the fact that any member who shot in defense would be sold down the river by the larger organization.

I suggested he find another church.

I believe it was the apostle Paul that said if you don't have a sword , sell what you have and buy one! I believe today he would say gun!

Not Paul, it was Jesus who said that. (Luke 22:36)

What the Apostle Paul said, and which is applicable to armed self-defense, is: "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:8, ESV)

That's why

They make oversized Bible covers with big pockets...
J from KY

TimSr said:

Ohio's law is kind of screwy on this one.

In general, you can carry in places unless they are posted that you can't, except for "prohibited places" such as schools, courthouse, etc. which aren't required to be posted.

Churches are considered "prohibited places" unless they are posted, or have an official written policy that says you CAN carry.

I wondered if any other states were like that. It seems like churches are usually treated like any other private entity open to the public by most other states.

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Yeah Ohio sucks in this regard. I read a book by an attorney on ohio gun laws (can't think of the title at the moment) and the way he explains it you could walk into church with a rifle on your shoulder and all they could do is ask you to leave and charge you with trespassing, but if you carry concealed without prior permission its a felony.

I'm not a regular church goer anymore but the law is really a pain when you get roped into going to weddings and stuff. Traveling to unfamiliar places, you don't want to go without, and you don't feel great about leaving it in a vehicle either. Not likely to get prior permission as a one time visitor though.

Generally speaking, I carry (concealed) everywhere unless it's specifically forbidden by State or Federal law. For all other places that are open to interpretation, I err on the side of carrying.

Michigan has some "grey area" concerning where you can and can't carry. Bars are off limits, but sports bar restaurants are OK... as long as they don't earn more than 50% of profit from booze sales. How the heck are you supposed to know that?

Legal in Pa.