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(July 19) -- No matter what name you call your deity, there's a common theme among religious institutions in the land of Louisiana: You cannot trust your fellow man, not even in the House of God.
Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law a bill that could easily be mistaken as satire: Concealed handguns are now a go in places of worship.
House Bill 1272, known has the "gun-in-church bill," was introduced by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton.
The new law allows licensed gun owners who are part of a security force to carry concealed weapons into churches, mosques and synagogues.
Those who wish to pack heat while giving praise will have to take an extra eight hours of tactical training each year.
Does that make you feel any safer? No? If it helps, churches, synagogues and mosques choosing to allow concealed carry will have to inform their congregations of the decision.
Perhaps protective vests will finally get sold in the gun aisle at Walmart, too.
To be fair, the bill was not issued as an open love letter to the NRA.
It was presented as a way to give worshippers in "declining neighbors" a means of defense against criminals. More importantly, places of worship will not be forced to allow guns on their property.
Is this really the way to go?
While gun-rights supporters erupted in cheers for Gov. Jindal, a churchgoer in Wisconsin was startled at the sight of a fellow parishioner openly carrying a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun in church.
In response, the police were called. Though the gun carrier wouldn't mention her name, she did tell NBC's TM4J why she carries it.
She said: "I started carrying earlier this year. I'm getting older and fatter and slower and criminals are getting meaner."
Sadly, church violence is not uncommon.
There have been incidents of gun violence in Colorado and New Jersey in recent years. Back in 1980, a teacher by the name of Alvin Lee King III stormed inside a church with an AR-15 assault rifle, a hunting rifle and handguns and opened fire -- killing five and injuring 10.
In an interview with CBS 11 on the 30th anniversary of that shooting, Detective Jimmy Meeks of Hurst Police Department in Texas, who also travels the country teaching church security, argues that there's a certain mentality many religious people need to get over.
Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law a bill that could easily be mistaken as satire: Concealed handguns are now a go in places of worship.
House Bill 1272, known has the "gun-in-church bill," was introduced by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton.
The new law allows licensed gun owners who are part of a security force to carry concealed weapons into churches, mosques and synagogues.
Those who wish to pack heat while giving praise will have to take an extra eight hours of tactical training each year.
Does that make you feel any safer? No? If it helps, churches, synagogues and mosques choosing to allow concealed carry will have to inform their congregations of the decision.
Perhaps protective vests will finally get sold in the gun aisle at Walmart, too.
To be fair, the bill was not issued as an open love letter to the NRA.
It was presented as a way to give worshippers in "declining neighbors" a means of defense against criminals. More importantly, places of worship will not be forced to allow guns on their property.
Is this really the way to go?
While gun-rights supporters erupted in cheers for Gov. Jindal, a churchgoer in Wisconsin was startled at the sight of a fellow parishioner openly carrying a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun in church.
In response, the police were called. Though the gun carrier wouldn't mention her name, she did tell NBC's TM4J why she carries it.
She said: "I started carrying earlier this year. I'm getting older and fatter and slower and criminals are getting meaner."
Sadly, church violence is not uncommon.
There have been incidents of gun violence in Colorado and New Jersey in recent years. Back in 1980, a teacher by the name of Alvin Lee King III stormed inside a church with an AR-15 assault rifle, a hunting rifle and handguns and opened fire -- killing five and injuring 10.
In an interview with CBS 11 on the 30th anniversary of that shooting, Detective Jimmy Meeks of Hurst Police Department in Texas, who also travels the country teaching church security, argues that there's a certain mentality many religious people need to get over.
Meeks says his mission "is helping get churches get beyond the mentality that 'we're safe in the house of God.' It is not a safe house in the mind of the criminal."
It's a sentiment echoed by John Monroe, an attorney for a gun-rights group assisting a Georgia minister suing Upson County to get guns inside his church.
Monroe told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, "Things happen in church. ... What we really want is the state not to say what can happen in church."
As frightening as the thought of criminals repeating such awful crimes in religious institutions is, I'm more alarmed that none of these gun rights supporters has concluded that if we had more gun control, the psychotic people who brought terror into church never would have had the opportunity to do so.
Though House Bill 1272 was introduced under the guise of preventing violence, I worry that it may ultimately make churches, synagogues and mosques more susceptible to it. Violence begets violence. How many more examples do we need to prove this point?
I understand the urgency for security in the religious community, but I don't believe laws like the "gun-in-church bill" are the answer.
Gun control is.
It's a sentiment echoed by John Monroe, an attorney for a gun-rights group assisting a Georgia minister suing Upson County to get guns inside his church.
Monroe told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, "Things happen in church. ... What we really want is the state not to say what can happen in church."
As frightening as the thought of criminals repeating such awful crimes in religious institutions is, I'm more alarmed that none of these gun rights supporters has concluded that if we had more gun control, the psychotic people who brought terror into church never would have had the opportunity to do so.
Though House Bill 1272 was introduced under the guise of preventing violence, I worry that it may ultimately make churches, synagogues and mosques more susceptible to it. Violence begets violence. How many more examples do we need to prove this point?
I understand the urgency for security in the religious community, but I don't believe laws like the "gun-in-church bill" are the answer.
Gun control is.
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