In the wake of the deadly Texas church shooting where 28 people were murdered, more churches are arming themselves — and they aren’t hiding that fact!
The River at Tampa Bay Church recently made headlines in Florida when Senior Pastor Rodney Browne posted a picture of the sign that hangs in their building.
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Who could forget Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton encouraging people to carry in church.
He said this on Fox News Sunday:
“We’ve had shootings at churches, you know, forever. It’s going to happen again. And so, we need people in churches — either professional security or at least arming some of the parishioners or the congregation — so that they can respond, when something like this happens again.
All I can say is in Texas at least we have the opportunity to have conceal carry. And so … there’s always the opportunity that gunman will be taken out before he has the opportunity to kill very many people.”
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Associate Pastor Allen Hawes told the Tampa Bay Times that the sign is common sense, saying:
“It is a deterrent. Look at what is going on. In the past two months, look at what happened in Texas. Look at what happened in Las Vegas. Because we are a church that is on television, we are very involved in the community. We want people to know that this is a safe zone.”
Hawes continued, saying:
“If you walk through the door with the intention to harm, that sign serves as a deterrent to you. We are not a soft target. People here will defend their families.”
In the wake of the Texas shooting, churches nationwide are having to come to grips with being open to helping those in need, while providing for the safety and security of their congregants.
One thing is certain, having a sign like this at the door of every church in America is a lot more effective than having a ‘Gun Free Zone’ sign.
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