Florida Bill Will Make Churches Safer

My late father, a retired police officer and Freewill Baptist preacher's son, wasn't a fan of carrying in church. As a retired officer, he could, even though churches are off-limits here in Georgia. He just didn't like it. He told me once that he didn't believe carrying in church should be necessary, and it just felt wrong for him to do so.

At least, that's how he felt until I reminded him that the world is full of goblins who don't feel that way and see churches as targets.

The Annunciation Catholic School shooting is odd because it's both a school shooting and a church shooting. While most of those attending mass that day were children, the truth was that they were left undefended during worship.

Church security has stopped mass shootings before. Most famously in White Settlement, Texas.

Now, Florida wants to make it easier to provide that kind of security.

A FloridaRepublican wants to make it easier for armed volunteers to provide security for churches and other houses of worship.

A bill, titled "Security Services at Places of Worship," has been sponsored by Senator Don Gaetz and aims to waive some of the licensing and training requirements for individuals who want to volunteer to protect religious facilities.

Gaetz said that pastors in his district have asked for the measure, adding that smaller congregations typically don't have the money to afford private security, FOX 13 reported.

Anyone hoping to volunteer will have to obtain a concealed carry permit, pass a level 2 background check, and secure approval from their local sheriff's office before formally acting in a security capacity.

The bill specified that those acting as security via this method cannot be paid for their work, but it allows them to receive a "reasonable" reimbursement for their training costs.

It's not a bad start.

I think a better move would be to just make it so anyone can lawfully carry in a church, then you don't have to worry about the rest of the stuff. Those who mean harm will make it clear soon enough, and with an armed congregation, that will be a bad move.

However, I think there are a lot of ostensibly pro-gun people who somehow think people shouldn't carry guns in churches--people like Dad--because it's supposed to be a place of peace and worship. I sincerely understand that. I just repeat that not everyone feels that way, and far too many of those want to rack up a massive death toll.

Because of that, this might be the way to step forward without completely pushing those parties too far. When this turns out not to do any of the things the anti-gunners claim it will--and there will be claims of the church aisles running red with blood--then it becomes a bit easier to move that line a little farther down the road to where it should have been all along.

And, in the meantime, churches get a lot safer than they might otherwise be if they don't have the resources to hire private security.

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