Church-security gun-policies that want us to throw Molotov cocktails at active shooters

In my Diocese the official policy, regardless of any recommendations by any risk retention insurance group, is brief and to the point in the context of applicable Natural Law and State, Federal and Constitutional laws: Don’t actively encourage but don’t necessarily forbid.

• Our Diocese respects the unalienable God-given right to stop any being-delivered-mortal-threat of unjust aggressors against non-aggressors.
• Our Diocese respects the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
• Our Diocese respects open carry laws of the State of North Carolina, which do not forbid open carrying in churches, though this can be legally blocked and that blockage legally enforced if accompanied by proper, visible signage. In my parish, I’ll expressly forbid any rifles or shotguns. I’ll also forbid open carry of any kind of weapon to those I don’t know. Sorry. I know that’ll offend some people, but that’s just the world we live in today. If they don’t depart willingly, immediately, they’ll be trespassed and it will immediately turn into a big deal. Having said that, I do not at all forbid certain individuals to open carry, who, for instance, have become well practiced in law enforcement and in the military and who are personal friends, well known to me.
• Our Diocese respects concealed carry laws. I don’t forbid any legal concealed carry (but no rifles or shotguns) to all those assisting at Holy Mass. I even put up stickers at entrances to the church and social hall stating that attitude of non-forbidding, as depicted up top of this post. If someone is legally carrying concealed here in North Carolina, it means they’ve been trained up and tested and have shot their weapon of choice dozens of times and have gone through the entire spectrum of local, state and federal background checks which now includes the databases for all State mental health agencies / hospitals and all of our Federal Intelligence Agencies and Bureaus. We’re pretty thorough in North Carolina. I’m not going to command people to carry, but if they’re legally doing this, I’m not going to stop them. It’ll make me smile. :-)
• Our Diocese is insisting churches have security teams. As to whether anyone who is a member of such a security team carries a weapon in whatever way is not something any pastor can require, but neither is anyone necessarily to be forbidden their Constitutional rights. It’s about walking the fine line of liability on both sides. Clever. Effective.

The CIA operator in the LifeSite video above is certain that there will be grave violence in churches during services, particularly in Catholic churches during Holy Mass, a lot of violence. Shootings. Bombings.

So, there’s a problem. A Catholic risk retention / insurance group of mid-West American bishops (Does that mean Cupich as well?) has sent out advice to pastors of parishes in America on creating church security teams that – surprise surprise – seems geared to get you killed out of respect for the tender feelings of Marxist funded terrorists. I’ll present what they say and make some comments. They begin with sarcasm and condescension:

• “Remember, the goal is not to develop a church SWAT team, but to be ready and able to take action until help arrives.”

Mind you, that’s specifically about dealing with an active shooter gunning down everyone in church in real time. The idea of the program is “to be ready and able to take action until help arrives”, which literally means that such readiness and action that they have in mind has already rendered you helpless until help arrives, right? And while you wait, what happens? Everyone dies.

As a local Sheriff told me, these kinds of programs simply pave the way for a clean-up operation, the removal of corpses, the washing down of blood. These programs are not at all about actually protecting anyone.

The following is put in a shaded paragraph with red-capitalized letters and all in bold, the emphasis added by the creators of the security program. I guess they really mean it:

In case you didn’t quite get what they’re on about, so annoying is it, let’s see what they mean specifically by the actual addressing of “an active shooter”:

• “A distractive weapon could be a fire extinguisher, while blunt force weapons could be objects such as heavy candle sticks or lamps which could be thrown at the intruder.”

That’s just sad. So many people will die unnecessarily.

This has to be satire, right? Are they serious about the effectiveness of throwing an entitled tantrum in front of a shooter who is pulling the trigger as fast as he can?

Anyway, it’s even worse. Zero churches are lit by electric reading lamps. Right? So…Did you just see what happened? It’s true that quite a lot of churches don’t have candle sticks on the altar, but rather have oil lamps, which, if you throw them at those nice people blowing you apart with bullets, are now Molotov cocktails setting your own parishioners and your own church on fire. You will have burned down your own church, burned your own parishioners to death. The bishops have prepared this; you will have done that:

That’s the advice. Throwing those lamps will really help, right? And since the bishops can’t imagine anyone being “mean,” they’re envisioning that these lamps be lobbed like a soft-ball. I can just see people’s hair-sprayed hair catching on fire. That will ensure absolute mayhem. Are these people stupid or malicious or both? Just satirical? Hey, Cardinal Blase, do you have an answer for us?

But, wait… are they really saying no to guns? They’re going to be careful about this. They think that not having armed security is a viable option, but let’s say you’re belligerent and do have armed security:

• “If you decide that armed security is needed at your parish, it is highly recommended that you use either current law enforcement agencies/personnel or a qualified and licensed security firm, each of which, carry professional liability insurance. Before any agreement is reached or signed by the parish representative, it must be reviewed by the designated representative at the Chancery and/or […] to ensure the language and coverage is providing adequate protection to the parish/diocese. A benefit to utilizing these professions is they are required to receive regular and current methods of training to handle emergency situations. They are conditioned to make split-second decisions and can diffuse a stressful situation from escalating into a tragic outcome.”

We can’t afford that. We have no paid staff in our parish. We’re so tiny! Hired armed security, individuals whom we don’t know, is going to scare our parishioners. That’s a non-starter.

• “Whereas non-professional persons engaging an attacker, are most likely not qualified to do so and could cause increased risk to themselves and others.”

Well, well. That’s an outright lie. Anyone with a weapon here in North Carolina is instructed, tested, practiced. That’s the law for concealed carry. Those on our security team are willing to take the risk of being a target, to lay down their lives for others. They won’t be a risk to anyone but mass shooters. They know what they’re doing after a lifetime of service, more than any rookie cop, or “security firm.” And I do know some of those who have worked in the security industry. I would never entrust them with protection of a church during Holy Mass. Never.

But let me be clear: in this parish pretty much every single person carries who can do so legally. And again, that means that they are instructed, tested, practiced and willing.

Our CIA friend in the video above correctly understands the threats in the last screed of Jane’s Revenge, that they are promising to move on quickly from spray paint and broken windows and arson to real violence against innocent church goers. That means mass shootings, and that means bombs. The FBI has warned the U.S. bishops that there is much credible evidence that Catholic churches, Catholic bishops, Catholic priests will be attacked the night of any SCOTUS decision reversing Roe v Wade.

And then do you know what the bishops will do? Here’s my prophesy. If it get’s real bad…

The bishops will close down the churches just like they did for Covid. “Being on Calvary with Jesus is too dangerous”, they’ll say. “Let’s run away!” they’ll say. “Catholics DO run away!” they’ll shriek. Running away from Calvary was the first collegial decision of the Apostles,” they’ll rationalize. “No more Mass anywhere at all,” they’ll insist.

But that won’t happen if we just have proper church security teams from the get-go. One of the best ways is NOT to use woke programs which insist on respecting the feelings of terrorists, letting them kill everyone “until help arrives.”

And if you think I’m exaggerating, wait until the next installment on church security on this blog providing a critique of the bishops’ wokeness on church security, playing into the hands of the terrorists all the more. Not only do the bishops create an atmosphere of welcome for active shooters, but they community-organize the creation of mass shooters using Critical Race Theory. Yep. Stay tuned.