God made man. Samuel Colt made men equal. Those who who know and understand the bible know that the right to self defense and self preservation is a God given right and that taking a life in self defense is not murder. The commandment: 'Thou shalt not kill' addresses a persons willful malice intent to kill another which is murder. Which is the original sin of Cain.
Concealed Weapons Classes at Churches
In an effort to increase membership, a number of U.S. churches — including the Church of Christ congregation in this rural village 30 miles north of Columbus — are offering an unconventional public service: Concealed weapons training.
“Church has done a good job with coffee klatsches or whatever, but we haven’t really reached out to guys,” said Jeff Copley, a preacher at the church. “And guys in Morrow Country, they shoot and they hunt.”
Hundreds of students have enrolled in the 10-hour course, which meets the state requirements for earning a concealed weapons permit. The training includes two hours on a church member’s private shooting range.
“I grew up going to church, but hadn’t attended in a number of years,” said David Freeman, 52, a local engineering manager who attended a firearm safety class at the church. “Always considered myself a Christian. I came for the gun classes and have been coming back for two years.”
The Marengo church launched its program several years ago and was likely among the first in the country to offer concealed weapons training. But from Texas to North Carolina, a smattering of congregations have recently followed suit, as ministers seek to capitalize on local enthusiasm for gun culture and demand for carry permit classes to expand their flocks.
Central Baptist Church in Lexington, N.C., held its first concealed weapons classes in March, in what the Rev. Ryan Bennett described as just “another avenue to reach people.”
“We want to draw people in to our campus,” Bennett told a local newspaper at the time. “And we’re going to try anything that we can to do that.”
While conceding that he carries a 9mm pistol with him at all times, he said he doesn’t want his congregation to be labeled “gun-toting.”
“We promote responsibility. We don’t endorse violence,” he said. “It’s just another way to draw people in.”
2 comments:
We hosted a concealed carry class at our church campus a few years ago. We had 64 folks take and complete the course. It was a fun day for all of us!
There will be more and more of that now, in the face of this election and what surely is to come.
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