Should churches change security in wake of recent events?

[EveDallas]

all countries have their crime and issues, but America is the only one which has these type of mass shootings on a regular basis.

while I love my annual visits to USA and Disneyland, there is always the worry that I could be shot when walking down the street, or the the guy ahead of me in target could just pull out a gun if he has an issue with the cashier or that I go to a cinema , church, show, event or even just on the pier at Santa Monica and someone will start shooting. I dont have that fear in Ireland, UK or any other European country.

I would suggest going to one of those countries where you feel safe then.

 

[AppleDumpling]

So tired of these type of incidents happening way too frequently. Wish there was an easy solution to deal with all the evil in the world.

 

[Domo]

I would suggest going to one of those countries where you feel safe then.

I'd suggest Spain, but they're afflicted with some bozo who goes about knocking over random windmills

 

[LYSE]

Churches everywhere are becoming very concerned. Only thing I know is that the ushers at my church are keeping an eye out on anyone arriving that hasn't been at the service before. That's really no plan at all. Truly, other than having metal detectors in place, not sure what can be done.

Lol so what's a metal detector gonna do...beep when they walk in and immediately start shooting?

 

[Domo]

So tired of these type of incidents happening way too frequently. Wish there was an easy solution to deal with all the evil in the world.

I would love that too. We can all dream.

 

[maddiel]

I don't know the answer, but I do know that my inlaws go to a very large, conservative church in a fairly good size city in the south. My FIL was an usher and a deacon prior to his Alzheimers diagnosis, and I remember a couple of years ago, he told us that their church had some type of law enforcement come in and give a talk about churches being soft terror targets. The end result was his church formed an armed group of men, who ringed the sanctuary during services for "protection". Now mind you, probably half the people in this church probably have guns in their purses on strapped on them, so it wasn't shocking that this was their plan. As far as I know, this has been standard procedure for the past couple of years, along with the ushers monitoring who comes in and approaching them to search them if they look "suspicious". My husband and I have joked a lot about this, because we can't imagine a more frightening and unsafe situation if someone started shooting during the morning service and 20 men whipped out various types of guns and rifles and started shooting at the shooter!

We just had a shooting in a Walmart a few miles from my house. A 47-year-old man walked in, pulled a handgun and started shooting. 3 people, all Hispanic, were killed. I went to high school with the shooter and he was a person we always said we would read about in a not good way.

It took 5 hours for the police to put out a description of the shooter. Why? The police spokesman said they couldn't get a description out of the shooter because they had to go through the store surveillance video and clear each person who pulled a weapon when they heard the shots. They needed to view the video to make sure there was only one shooter. It took 5 hours to get the video and decipher from the video who the shooter was and who it wasn't.

The shooter was caught the next day a few blocks from our school.

The hate needs to stop.

Wow. I have a great deal of trouble comprehending how people consider that pervasive a concentration of guns in a public area to be normal, regular thing.

M.

 

[Hikergirl]

I can't buy ammo for my dh's pistols, he has to show his permit, which lists his pistols on it. I can however purchase ammo for rifles and shotguns.

Quoting myself because it looks like this just may be the store policy not actual law.
I had no idea, I assumed it was the law.
So, it looks like the have ti take info and retain it, and that info is found on the pistol permit.
It must just be for pistols, I've only had to show my ID for rifle ammo and nobody asked about my occupation.

 

[IAHFTPT]

What happened the last time we had a gun debate?

 

[Domo]

What happened the last time we had a gun debate?

It's a hot topic for a while then it's all forgotten about. Like with Orlando or Sandy Hook. They're just a fading memory for most people not directly linked to the catastrophes.

 

[pigletto]

I don't have those fears at home in Canada, or while we travelled to Europe this past spring. But then again, I don't have them in the US either - the fear of gun violence is simply not seared into my psyche. Nor is the fear of any other type of violence, which I mostly attribute to living in relative safety and security. I jut don't think about it much at all. There are people who apparently fear for themselves when visiting Asia and the Caribbean because they've heard of tourists being targeted.

The fact is that none of us are immune to being hurt by a motivated crazy person. Guns exist in both Canada and Europe. Anyone wanting to get one for illegal purposes can. The (estimated) number of illicit guns in the hands of criminals here is truly mind-boggling. I don't pretend to know what the answer is but glib, imperious comments about how superior other parts of the world are in relation to their firearms policies make me uncomfortable.

And I didnt have those fears either until I was in the middle of an airport shooting with my loved ones and we ran for our lives. Unfortunately it is more likely in the U.S than it is at home whether that is perceived as offensive or not. And I'm not going to pretend it isn't because it's might offend.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

What happened the last time we had a gun debate?

 

[Domo]

View attachment 281757

OK, that's kinda funny

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It’s hard to apply such policies in a country whose “Right to Bear Arms” has such a huge place in our history and culture.

I don’t deny that we need to do something, but it’s not as easy as just cracking down on the laws... I think if it was it would have been done by now(or at least be on the table).

This is part of the reason, respectfully towards other posters as my comment is a general one that I've expressed before, that whenever these incidents occur it comes down to an U.S. vs THEM mentality on the DIS. I do not get into the business of telling other countries what they can do better. I couldn't even begin to understand the complexities of their culture, their society, their history and their current and past laws in an in-depth manner not derived mostly from media. This is of course my personal viewpoint on the matter. I will also say where you live in the U.S. can also impact your viewpoint on the matter as well.

There are things that I love about other countries and what they have for their citizens (such as guaranteed paid leave for both mothers and fathers for one, or work/play balance some other countries seem to have, etc) but I do not in any way think it's as easy to mimic/copy/apply in some way towards the U.S. I also think that when it comes to open talk of things in general (so for multitude of topics) the us vs them (in a multitude of ways not just a country vs country way) mentality doesn't seem to go a long way to keeping open talk.

*All just my opinion

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

No talk, but an interesting and accurate graphic that suggests the mere presence of firearms is not the issue.

The graphic is not even remotely accurate. Not even close. There are about 45 guns per 100 citizens. So that is rounded up by about 5% to get the 1 in two. But as most of us have already surmised, that is quite a different thing than one in two citizens has guns. As an aside that figure is lower than in the United States. Then when you count owners of multiple weapons included in that 45 per 100 figure, and take out those currently in the militia who are given a weapon by the state, that falls quite a bit. By the way those that complete their militia service can keep their gun if they want. But it is sent back to the factory to alter it to prevent it from automatic fire. Further, Switzerland's death rate by guns, though it ranks lower than that of the U.S. is actually middle of the pack.

 

[bcla]

This is part of the reason, respectfully towards other posters as my comment is a general one that I've expressed before, that whenever these incidents occur it comes down to an U.S. vs THEM mentality on the DIS. I do not get into the business of telling other countries what they can do better. I couldn't even begin to understand the complexities of their culture, their society, their history and their current and past laws in an in-depth manner not derived mostly from media. This is of course my personal viewpoint on the matter. I will also say where you live in the U.S. can also impact your viewpoint on the matter as well.

Part of it is that in general, the US is safe and the vast majority of people don't really have concerns about being victims of violent crime. In countries like Yemen or Iraq, I'm pretty sure that people are numb to this sort of thing and just kind of accept that it happens.

These high-profile events basically just pop the bubble. There's always the potential for this sort of thing because we feel it's generally safe enough that we don't worry too hard about it.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I would suggest going to one of those countries where you feel safe then.

This is a good idea, and pretty much our plan too. Iceland felt incredibly safe. Looking forward to using our tourist dollars more international locations in the future. Sure, bad stuff can happen anywhere, but if you look at the statistics, some places are clearly safer than others.

 

[MillauFr]

And what exactly do you mean by gun control?
In the US it isn't a simple don't allow guns, not sure if you realize that not being an American. I would love to hear what you think gun control entails.

Doesn't everyone agree that people who are certifiably insane shouldn't have access to guns?

 

[MillauFr]

This is a good idea, and pretty much our plan too. Iceland felt incredibly safe. Looking forward to using our tourist dollars more international locations in the future. Sure, bad stuff can happen anywhere, but if you look at the statistics, some places are clearly safer than others.

Isn't the United States one of the safest countries in the world? As long as you don't drive too much it is pretty safe.

 

[EveDallas]

This is a good idea, and pretty much our plan too. Iceland felt incredibly safe. Looking forward to using our tourist dollars more international locations in the future. Sure, bad stuff can happen anywhere, but if you look at the statistics, some places are clearly safer than others.

Good for you. Enjoy.

 

[Domo]

Doesn't everyone agree that people who are certifiably insane shouldn't have access to guns?

I do. Aside from the obvious inspired-to-kill argument, why hand a suicidally patient a quick and easy way to act out their own affliction?