So how does one go about finding out whether a church's national conference is pro gun. Or finding a pro gun/self defense local church?
I'd check out the conferences websites. I checked ours and it only talks biblically, not politically, so thats good. The conference may not specifically take a stand one way or the other, which I think is the right thing to do. When we were shopping for churches we were going to a ELCA Lutheran church. My dad grew up in a Missouri Synod (very conservative) Lutheran church and not knowing much about the ELCA version I checked out
http://elca.org/
Oh man, talk about liberal. They are more of a political organization than church. Check out their position on gun control:
http://www.elca.org/dcs/elca_actions/ca93_6_10.html
Here's the quote:
"To communicate to Congress and the President of the United States the urgent concern of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America regarding the violence associated with the widespread availability of handguns and military assault weapons and [regarding] our support for the Brady Bill and other controls over the manufacture, sale, and private ownership of handguns and military assault weapons;"
Yup, they support the Brady Bill.
Honestly I didn't know about our pro-gun pastor at first, but listening to his sermons, he mentioned hunting a lot. Then I talked with him a bit about guns and he was really into it. He also said in a sermon something like "Banning guns is about the most stupid thing I can imagine. You can use your hand to pick up a gun and shoot someone, or you can use your had to pick up food to feed someone. Either way, it's your choice, not the guns."
I don't ask people directly if their pro-gun. Some hunters wouldn't even consider themselves pro-gun. But I mention hunting, see the reaction and take it from there. Also, I bet if they have a "No guns" sign on the fron of the church, that'd be a tip off too!