Open Letter to Colorado State Senators

Senator _________,

Please do not cave in to pressure from outside the state to pass gun control legislation that has been historically proven to do absolutely nothing to reduce gun violence!  Colorado is a Western state with a long history of firearms used for self-defense, hunting, sport shooting, teaching youth responsibility and confidence and respect for the outdoors, and many other worthwhile uses.  Please do not throw away our God-give rights, expressed in the 2nd Amendment and the Colorado State Constitution.

There are many emotional arguments used to support these gun bills, but the cold, hard facts tell us that these measures will be completely ineffective in reducing gun violence.  The Clinton-era 1994 Assault Weapon Ban did nothing to reduce gun violence.

HB 1224: bans magazines with a capacity of more than 15 bullets. Magazines owned prior to the ban can be kept but cannot be transferred, sold, etc.

• Limiting magazine capacities do very little to impact the speed that someone can shoot a semi-automatic weapon.  Sheriff Ken Campbell of Boone County, Indiana performed a test with both an experienced and inexperienced shooters, and proved that limiting magazine capacity had almost no impact on their ability to shoot 30 aimed rounds.
• Changing a magazine, even for an inexperienced shooter only takes 1-3 seconds.  (Experienced shooters can change a magazine in less than a second.)  This does not give a victim enough time to see that the gun is out of ammunition, make a decision (under extreme pressure) to act, and attack the shooter before he inserts the magazine and the weapon is working again. 

HB 1226: prohibits concealed carry on public college campuses.

•  According to firearms researcher John Lott, “With just one single exception, the attack on congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011, every public shooting since at least 1950 in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry guns.”  That means 23 of 24 mass shootings occurred in gun free zones, or more accurately, "Victim Disarmament Zones."
• Attempted mass shootings in areas where guns are allowed almost never make it to the point of becoming a mass shooting. Santee, CA (2001), Appalachian School of Law, 2002,  Pearl High School, MS (1997), Edinboro, PA. (1998), New Life Church (Dec 2007), Winnemucca, NV, 2008, Mayan Palace Theater, San Antonio (Dec 2012) 
• None of the anti concealed carry predictions of "OK Corral" shootouts have happened.  Those who pursue concealed carry permits are far more law-abiding than the average citizen.
• This issue has already been decided by the Colorado Supreme Court, and students want concealed carry.

HB 1228: charges fees for background checks.

• A US Department of Justice report "Firearm Use by Offenders,"  reports that criminals only directly purchase 13.9% of the weapons used in crime.  The rest come from friends and family (39.6%) or illegal street purchases (39.2%).  It is already a federal crime (with a 10 year sentence) for straw purchases.
• Increasing fees is just a tax on law-abiding gun owners.  It serves no purpose for reducing gun violence.

HB 1229: requires a background check to be conducted by a licensed firearms dealer before any sale or transfer of a firearm. “Transfer” includes lending a firearm to a friend or family member on a temporary basis.

•  Criminals, already intent on committing a crime, will not bother to find an FFL to transfer a weapon from a family member, friend, or their illegal street seller.  This law will have no effect on gun violence.
• The law is poorly written, excluding extended family members like uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, etc.  It places an undue burden on people who want to loan a gun to a friend for hunting season or to take to the range to try out before buying one him or herself.  This will cause innocent people to be charged with "illegal transfer of a firearm."

SB 195: requires concealed carry permit applicants to complete training in-person.

• Training for concealed carry permit holders is important, but modern teaching methods have shown that online education is completely effective.  As long as the online training meets the educational content and testing standards, there is no reason to disallow it.  Online training is currently acceptable for driver's safety courses, K-12, college and graduate work and a number of other topics.  Why should the classroom portion of any firearms training be any different?
• This law would have no impact on gun violence, but would only make it more difficult for some people to receive a carry permit and so be able to defend themselves.
• A more sensible requirement would be to add a live-fire requirement for permit applicants to demonstrate basic competency with their firearm of choice.

 SB 196: “Assault Weapons Responsibility Act” makes users, owners, sellers, distributors, and manufacturers of firearms liable for harm caused by any firearm that was under their control at one point in time and is later misused by someone else.

• First, lawsuits of this type have historically a very poor chance of success.  Manufacturers cannot control their products once they leave their facilities. 
• If this is a sensible law, then automobile manufacturers should be held liable for all traffic fatalities (which kill far more people annually than guns), swimming pool and bicycle manufacturers should be liable for drownings and accidents involving their products too, since their products are more likely to accidentally kill someone than a gun.

Please vote "NO" on these ineffective, freedom-robbing bills and stand up for your constituents' rights.  The people who elected you and gave you this responsibility are watching.

Respectfully,

Jeff Odegard
Colorado Springs

------------------

Friends of Freedom,

Here is the contact information for the State Senators currently involved in the discussions in Denver:
These Senators need to hear from you today via phone AND e-mail.  Please be respectful and factual.  Additionally, please read this post from the Colorado Senate News and sign the online petition here.

Senate President John Morse (SD11)
    (303) 866-6364; john.morse.senate@state.co.us
Senate Majority Leader Morgan Carroll (SD29)
    (303) 866-4879; morgan.carroll.senate@state.co.us
Senator Angela Giron (SD03)
    (303) 866-4878; angela.giron.senate@state.co.us
Senator Jeanne Nicholson (SD16)
    (303) 866-4873; jeanne.nicholson.senate@state.co.us
Senator Lois Tochtrop (SD24)
    (303) 866-4871; lotochtrop@aol.com
Senator Cheri Jahn (SD20)
    (303) 866-4856; cheri.jahn.senate@state.co.us
Senator Andy Kerr (SD22)
    (303) 866-4859; andy.kerr.senate@state.co.us
Senator Gail Schwartz (SD05)
    (303)866-4871; gail.schwartz.senate@gmail.com
Senator Mary Hodge (SD25)
    (303) 866-4855; mary.hodge.senate@state.co.us

Hero Facing Possible Charges

Just to show you how insane New York City has become, a heroic school safety agent who picked up a fallen police officer's gun and defended the officer and others in the store from 5 criminals, exchanging gun fire and driving them off, is facing possible gun charges because he is not licensed to carry a gun. Liberals want us to be just like Europe. Well, they're accomplishing it. This is just like the United Kingdom, where defending yourself against armed criminals can get you in trouble with the law.

This kind of reaction from the authorities only exacerbates the problem of people who just walk on by others in need. In New York City, the brave hero might find him or herself in legal trouble for doing the right thing. Shame on the people of New York City for allowing their elected officials to strip them of their God-given rights. Shame on all of us if we allow it to happen where we live.

The Pink Equalizer

How does a 25 year old, 110 pound beauty queen defend herself against a burly, 42 year old career criminal? She uses a .38 caliber pink equalizer. Her fiance said she wasn't a very good shot at the range, but apparently she was good enough to stop the bad guy after he invaded their home, dragged her upstairs and beat up her fiance who tried to defend her. That gave her time to retrieve her pink equalizer and defend them from this monster.
Good girl. Now go back to the range and get some more practice!

A True Hero

When the horrible shooting in Tuscon happened, an armed citizen, Joe Zamudio, was next door in Walgreens. Here is the story in his words:

Note that without special military or police training, he was able to rapidly assess the situation and took the appropriate action. Even though he was momentarily confused about who the real shooter was, he didn't shoot the wrong person; in fact, he didn't even draw. Mr. Zamudio is a true American hero. He proves that an average citizen, carrying a concealed weapon, can make the right decision and make a difference within precious seconds, even though the police are only minutes away.

Never Forget

MLK, Civil Rights and the 2nd Amendment

Gun control has historically been a tool of the racist and the power hungry. From well before the Civil War, African-Americans were denied the right to keep and bear arms in order to keep them subservient and under control. (Remember this truism "gun control is not about guns, it is about control"...) This continued until the Civil Rights movement, led by courageous men like Dr. King and others, brought about equal rights for all free men and women.

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, when we remember a pastor and great civil rights leader who led a non-violent uprising that forced the US to recognize the equal rights of African-Americans under the Constitution. Almost everyone knows about his eloquence and his commitment to non-violence in the face of aggression, but not many know about his belief in the God-given right of self-defense.

In fact, as described in a research article entitled "Martin and Malcolm on Nonviolence and Violence" Dr. King had actually applied to the State of Alabama for a handgun carry permit in 1955 (which was denied) and kept one or more guns in his home for self defense during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. (He was receiving an average of 40 threatening phone calls a day, and for a time armed men were posted outside his house for protection." After his house was bombed that same year, he embraced the principle of nonviolence in total for himself.

Three nights later, Martin King’s house was bombed and people were amazed how calm he was. After finding out that his wife and baby were safe, he walked on his porch to face an angry black crowd with weapons of violence, ready to return an eye for an eye. “Don’t let us get panicky,” King said. He pleaded with them to get rid of their weapons because “we can’t solve this problem through retaliatory violence.” On the contrary, “We must meet violence with nonviolence.” Turning to the most persuasive authority in the black Christian experience, King reminded blacks of the words of Jesus: “ ‘Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you.’ We must love our white brothers … no matter what they do to us.”

With great personal courage and devotion to the moral cause of civil rights, Dr. King chose to risk potential martyrdom and even the possibility of seeing his wife and infant daughter killed rather than to exercise his own right of self-defense, but even 4 and then 11 years later, he was still writing about the right of self-defense.

Dr. King saw three main positions on the use of arms. He wrote in the October, 1959 edition of Liberation Magazine:

Here one must be clear that there are three different views on the subject of violence. One is the approach of pure nonviolence, which cannot readily or easily attract large masses, for it requires extraordinary discipline and courage. The second is violence exercised in self-defense, which all societies, from the most primitive to the most cultured and civilized, accept as moral and legal.

The principle of self-defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi, who sanctioned it for those unable to master pure nonviolence. The third is the advocacy of violence as a tool of advancement, organized as in warfare, deliberately and consciously.

Dr. King rejected the third position (supported by men like Malcolm X), pointing out that while some his fellow African-Americans felt that it was the only way to bring change, it would in actuality divide proponents of civil rights, drive away most of the uninvolved, uncommitted Negro community, and ultimately it would find itself outgunned and outmatched. Later in the same article he wrote:

There is more power in socially organized masses on the march than there is in guns in the hands of a few desperate men. Our enemies would prefer to deal with a small armed group rather than with a huge, unarmed but resolute mass of people.

Despite this, he was convinced of the truth of the second position, that self-defense is both moral and legal. In an article written May 4, 1966 entitled, "Nonviolence: The Only Road to Freedom," he was very clear that people in the civil rights marches would deliberately remain disarmed to avoid any legitimate act of self-defense triggering retaliatory violence. Any aggression against unarmed demonstrators only proved the evil of racism and gave Dr. King and his followers the high moral ground. He also wrote:

There are many people who very honestly raise the question of self-defense. This must be placed in perspective. It goes without saying that people will protect their homes. This is a right guaranteed by the Constitution and respected even in the worst areas of the South.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated just two years later on April 4, 1968. His killer, James Earl Ray was a convicted felon (4 convictions from 1949-1959) and an escaped prisoner. The Gun Control Act of 1968, signed the following October would have made it illegal for him to have a gun, but over 40 years of history of failed gun control laws have shown that it probably wouldn't have kept him from obtaining the rifle he used in the murder. This does not detract in the least from the fact that Dr. King was not only a champion of civil rights, but that he believed in the individual right to keep and bear arms and the right of self-defense.

I'll bet you'll never read that in the mainstream media...

-------------------------
Postscript. I should make it clear for those not familiar with my blog, or the history of Dr. King, that I am not in total agreement with him, even though I have a lot of respect for him. He was theologically and politically liberal and believed in big government. However, it is refreshing to find large pieces of common ground with someone with whom I would normally disagree. His commitment to equal rights and personal liberty are both very commendable.

I like guns

I just couldn't pass this one up. Merry Christmas!

Sorry I couldn't find the tag to embed it. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU

Calling the Ft. Hood Massacre Terrorism

This was a terrorist act. Ralph Peters gets it right in "Fort Hood's 9/11" in the Washington Post. (I highly recommend reading the entire article.) This was the act of a fanatical Muslim who tried to contact Al Quaeda, who questioned his patients because of their commitment to the War on Terror, who made radical statements to his co-workers, who listed himself as a Palestinian on a Muslim dating site, and who was evidently under investigation by the FBI for months.

Everyone is so scared of being sued for not being politically correct that no one did anything. No one just snaps. There are an abundance of warning signs, and for whatever reason, Army and FBI officials failed to act. Just like Cho at Virginia Tech, or the snot nose punks at Columbine, or any other mass shooting. There are warning signs for anyone with the guts to recognize and report them.

Call this for what it is - Domestic Islamic Terrorism.

Army Victim Disarmament Zone

I was shocked and saddened to hear about the brave men and women who lost their lives at the hand of the domestic Islamic terrorist Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The AP reported that if it had not been for many brave and selfless heroes, the bloodshed would have been much worse. One paragraph about one of the heroes caught my eye:

The 21-year-old Fort Worth native (Pfc. Marquest Smith) quickly grabbed the civilian worker who'd been helping with his paperwork and forced her under the desk. He lay low for several minutes, waiting for the shooter to run out of ammunition and wishing he, too, had a gun.

Why didn't this brave young man have a gun? He was unarmed because the DoD does not allow anyone without a specific reason to carry a weapon to be armed. All weapons (except personal weapons registered and kept in base housing) must be secured in the post armory. Usually, this means that only Military Police or civilian security forces (like the heroic Kimberly Munley, who shot and stopped the domestic Islamic terrorist) are armed on a base. I served 5 1/2 years in the Air Force, and the only time I was allowed to carry a gun was on the few occasions I was taking weapons training. You could bring a personal weapon on base to shoot at the firing range, but it had to be registered with the SPs, unloaded, locked and stored separately from ammunition, and you had to have a qualified range master on hand if you were using it.

So why did we have so many victims in a building full of highly trained, proficient, experienced warriors, with only a lone gunman with two handguns? They were not allowed to carry the tools to defend themselves. The shooting went on for four minutes after the 911 call was made. What difference would it have made if Pfc. Smith and his courageous compatriots had been carrying sidearms? How many seconds would the terrorist have lasted if they had weapons at the ready? Would the coward Hasan have even tried?

Update, 7 Nov 09:
Several commentators have picked up on this theme, including Gun Rights Examiners Daniel White, Howard Nemerov and Kurt Hoffman. They write with far deeper analysis than mine and arrive at the same conclusions.

Another quote, this time from cnsnews.com:

"I was confused and just shocked," said Spc. Jerry Richard, 27, who works at the center but was not on duty during the shooting. "Overseas you are ready for it. But here you can't even defend yourself."

Democrat, Republican or Texan?

I got this in an email at work today, and couldn't pass up posting it!

Are you a Democrat, a Republican or a Texan? The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Colt 1911 cal. 45 semiautomatic pistol, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?

(Image courtesy of Xavier Thoughts)

....................................................
THINK CAREFULLY:
....................................................

Democrat's Answer:

• Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
• Does the man look poor or oppressed?
• Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
• Could we run away?
• What does my wife think?
• What about the kids?
• Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
• What does the law say about this situation?
• Does the Colt have appropriate safety built into it?
• Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
• Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
• If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
• Should I call 9-1-1?
• Why is this street so deserted?
• We need to raise taxes, have paint and weed day and make this happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
• This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.

...................................................
Republican's Answer:

• BANG!

...................................................


Texan's Answer:

• BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!* Click..... (Sounds of reloading)
• BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Click


• Daughter: 'Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the Winchester SilverTips or Hollow Points?'
• Son: 'Can I shoot the next one!'

* Note: the original email only had 9 bullets in the 1911 before reloading. The 1911 magazine holds 10. Actually a real Texan would load up 10+1. Also, there would be no "click" when the gun was empty because the slide would lock back and the hammer would be unable to drop, thus no "click". A competent handgunner would also be counting rounds expended and rounds remaining, so the second magazine would be on it's way to the gun immediately after the 11th round (10+1) was fired.**

** The previous note confirms that I am a gun geek. :o}

Things that make me angry...

This from Telegraph.co.uk today:

"A businessman was held on suspicion of attempted murder after confronting a gang of youths who allegedly threatened to kill his wife and attacked his stepson outside their home.
Colin Philpott was roused from bed and, still barefoot, challenged the group as his stepson, Alex, was battered in the front garden of the family’s £500,000 property.
In the scuffle which followed, one of the youths, named locally as Josh Hasler, was stabbed a number of times and collapsed in the street. Police were called, leading to the arrest of Mr Philpott and five of the youths, aged 16."

A gang of at least 6 punks break into his house, attack his stepson, threaten to kill him and his wife, and he gets arrested for exercising his natural, God-given right to self-defense? According to the liberal nutjobs who run the country, I suppose he should have just rolled over and let them kill his family. Poor, misguided youths; they probably didn't know any better. They're the real victims here.

I hope the bobbies come to their senses, drop all charges and issue an apology, but that would assume a level of common sense that they just don't possess anymore in jolly old England.

February 22, 2010 - National Park Day

The president signed a law into effect today (attached to the credit card reform bill) that will allow concealed carry in many national parks. However, because of the language of the bill, it will not take effect for 9 months, even though the sponsors intended for it to be immediately binding. The Interior Department and National Park Service, who hate the idea of free citizens bearing arms, intend to follow the letter of the law and wait nine months.

Therefore, my ban on visiting National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges will continue until February 22, 2010, when the 2nd Amendment will finally also be valid on Federal lands. See you in Rocky Mountain National Park when the snow clears next Spring. And not a moment before.

OWB Holster for Baby Eagle RS

This is my latest venture into the world of holster making. (Click on the pictures for a closer look.) It is an Outside the Waistband (OWB) paddle holster with a thumb break snap and two different cants. I built it to carry either openly on my hip or concealed behind my hip. After using the holster for a couple weeks, I actually like the canted setting best for either position. The vertical position is nice because the gun rides a little higher, but the FBI cant is definitely more comfortable for both carry and draw.

I cut the back first, then cut out the top piece on the barrel side of the holster and sewed it on. Then I wet-formed the leather using a plastic bag around the gun, a wooden form and lots of molding with my fingers. After it was dry I dyed the inside, put the front snap (on the back of the holster) and cut out the grip/trigger side and sewed it. Finally, I died the outside and put the back snap on. I covered the back of the back snap with a piece of suede to keep it from scratching the gun. The strip of leather around the mouth of the holster is there partially to provide a little extra stiffness to hold the holster open (a trick from the IWB holster world), and partially for looks. The gun was really tight, so I had to do the "put it in a plastic bag and ram it into the holster" trick. Next time, I'll add another 1/4" to the width of the back piece.

From the back, my stitches don't look as straight. If you compare to my first IWB holster, though, I think I've made some good improvement. The stitching wheel my Dad gave me last Christmas really helped. This was a fun project, but my wife is happy to have me back with the rest of the family and not constantly down in the basement.

Next will probably be a magazine holster for the other hip...

Let's Visit a National Park Next Year

The Interior Department is changing a 25 year old ban on concealed carry in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. The rule will take place mid-January before B. Hussein Obama takes office. As long as the new administration does not change the rules, my family and I will probably be visiting Rocky Mountain National Park next summer. My ban on visiting National Parks will be lifted the same day the ban is lifted.

Of course, you still have the crowds, crime, and pollution that have made me prefer national forests and state lands. But, there are some really pretty places to see, and now my family will get to enjoy some of them.

An American Tragedy

While many celebrate tonight in Chicago's Hyde Park and around the country, some of us mourn. We mourn the coming loss of liberty. We mourn the coming loss of morality. We mourn the coming loss of prosperity.

Bitterly clinging to my guns and religion for four more years, until change for the better.

Another Reason to Carry in National Parks

FoxNews reported on Saturday that Mexican Drug Cartels, hurt by post-9/11 border security, are now growing marijuana on public lands, including National Parks and Forests up and down the West Coast, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. According to AOL News, "The pot growers pose a risk to the public. In some cases, growers are operating near campgrounds, roads and beaches. " According to King5 News in Washington State, "Agents go in heavily armed knowing the growers often are too." It seems the drug cartels have to watch out for "patch pilots," competing drug dealers who steal from their crops, so they often post armed guards on the site to shoot anyone who comes nosing around, like you and your family out for a nice Fall hike.

But law abiding citizens with concealed carry permits are not allowed to bring loaded concealed weapons into National Parks? It sounds like some National Parks are not the "completely safe" places that the liberals have been leading us to believe.

Puh-leaze!

Happy Patriot's Day!

April 19th, 1775, Old North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts. The shot heard around the world began this nation's fight for independence. This day is a powerful reminder of many important beliefs I have. The first, and most important to me, is "No king but King Jesus!"

John Ashcroft was roundly criticized for his "No King but Jesus" speech at Bob Jones University, but he was only reminding us of our colonial and Revolutionary War heritage. In a 1774 report to King George, the Governor of Boston noted: "If you ask an American, who is his master? He will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ." The pre-war Colonial Committees of Correspondence soon made this the American motto: "No King but King Jesus." And this sentiment was carried over into the 1783 peace treaty with Great Britain ending that war, which begins "In the name of the most Holy and Undivided Trinity... ." (Catholic Education Resource Center)

(Is the United States a Christian nation? - No. Just read the news and anyone can see that it is not. Was it founded by mostly Christians based on Christian principles? - Yes!)

The second belief enshrined in that first gunshot is that free men have the God-given right to own and carry arms for self-defense and the preservation of liberty. The minutemen were massing arms (including cannons), ammunition and supplies for war, and the British were on their way to confiscate them. Before you can subjugate a populace, you have to disarm them. Adolph Hitler understood it. Josef Stalin understood it. King George understood it, and learned the hard way what happens when tyrants encounter free men with liberty in their hearts and guns in their hands.

The third idea I find in the hearts of the patriots is that of liberty - the desire to live a life of freedom. This is not libertine freedom - the freedom to do whatever we want, regardless of what happens to others. Government is given by God to "bear the sword" (Rom 13:4) and punish evildoers, but not to be a source of fear for the law-abiding citizen. Our freedom is the freedom to do what is right, loving God and loving each other without fear of a tyrant telling us what we will do, what we will believe, or what we will think.

Happy Patriot's Day! Wouldn't it be great if it was a national holiday?

No king but King Jesus!

Another Campus Shooting...

There was another campus shooting - in Jerusalem. An armed terrorist attacked Jewish seminary students killing 8 and wounding 9, 3 seriously. The terrorist was shot - by a student with a handgun. (The original reports said he used a rifle.)

One of the students, Yitzhak Dadon, said he shot the attacker twice in the head. "I laid on the roof of the study hall, cocked my gun and waited for him. He came out of the library spraying automatic fire," he said. (source: FoxNews.com)

Apparently the terrorist was finished off by an Israeli Defense Force member who lives nearby.

I don't know, but it sounds like guns on campus can make a difference for the better.

Pray for the victims and their families. Pray for students and faculties of American universities to be allowed to defend themselves.

Updates: 8 Mar 08

Several outlets are reporting on the fact that the mainstream media is downplaying the fact that a student with a gun played a role in stopping the terrorist.

See the CCRKBA and the WorldNetDaily pieces.

Add Yitzhak Dadon to the list of CHL/CCW heroes that includes Jeanne Assam (heroine of the New Life Church shooting) and many other unsung heroes.

Defending the Church Against Maniacs, Crooks, and Others

Authorities have finally released Matthew Murray's reasons for killing innocent Christians at the YWAM center in Arvada and at New Life Church here in Colorado Springs last weekend.

“I’m coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the (expletive) teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. . . . God, I can’t wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don’t care if I live or die in the shootout. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you . . . as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.”

How do you defend against someone like this? He is obsessed, furious, and beyond reason. He has a plan in place, has equipped himself (a rifle, two pistols, smoke grenades and backpack with 1,000 rounds of ammunition), and doesn't care if he lives or dies. When he shows up at the dorm, or the church, or the shopping mall, or the playground, you can't reason with him. You can't say, "hey, let's talk about this over a cup of coffee." Your only option is to respond with force the moment the threat is identified. You shoot to stop and you don't stop until he does. It doesn't matter if he is a homicidal maniac, a thief with a gun, a fanaticist strapped with explosives or a mugger with a knife. Life is a precious gift from God, and your life and the lives of those you are defending outweigh his a hundred times over.

For churches, there are a number of things to consider. There are several threats that must be considered. The staff needs to develop contingency plans (including responses to each identified threat, fallback plans, plans for communication and notification, etc.) and train staff members what to do in case of an emergency (including medical emergencies - CPR and first aid). Threats could include anything from:

• power outages
  
• accidental fires and floods
  
• hecklers
  
• vandals
  
• thieves and con artists
• arsonists
• bomb threats
• armed attackers
  
• (against the preaching pastor, staff, or congregation in general)
  
• suicide bombers or car bombs
• hostage takers

The church needs to consider all entrances and exits and how to protect them. If a situation arises, where should the people in the sanctuary, adult Sunday School, and children's ministry be taken? Where are the fallback positions in case the first place is unsafe? Who determines if an evacuation is safe or if people need to remain in secureable areas in the building. How will the staff and security team communicate? Will the security staff be uniformed or plainclothes, openly carry arms, carry concealed, or be unarmed? Will the church hire permanent staff, off-duty law enforcement or use trained volunteers (or some mix of the three)? How much training and preparation is required for safety, effectiveness and legal liability purposes? What information should be given to the congregation? Are there physical measures that can be implemented (like proper lighting at night or concrete posts in front of the building to protect against car bombers)? What are the best positions to post security staff? What areas of the building are most vulnerable to specific threats?

Matthew Murray sent threatening emails to YWAM before the attack, and made hate-filled posts to an anti-Christian website just before and after the Arvada attack. Does the staff know how to identify warning signs like this and know who to notify? Can they distinguish between someone acting suspiciously and some poor guy just looking for a handout? After hearing about the attacks in Arvada, New Life Church beefed up their security and it paid huge dividends in human life. They identified a possible threat and took action to protect their people, even at the risk of looking silly in the eyes of some.

I need to caveat this post with a disclaimer - I am not an expert on physical security - I'm a network security professional, but I am also a gun owner who has thought a great deal about how to protect my family and what it means to carry a weapon. I know enough to say that basic security principles apply whether you look at a computer network or a church foyer. Common sense and deliberate, forward thinking will save lives. The basic steps of incident response are:

• Planning and preparation - without this, you are doomed to failure...
• Prevention - what can you do now to reduce the threat or your vulnerability
  
• Detection and notification - training, training, training...
  
• Containment - you need a capable, properly equipped team in place. Now...
  
• Eradication - removing the threat and protecting people and assets...
  
• Recovery - working with authorities, updating plans
  

The church needs to build relationships with local law enforcement agencies and identify trained individuals (with current or former law enforcement backgrounds, military , government or private security experience) within the church. Those organizations and individuals will be your best resources for increasing security and protecting your congregation. Only bring in outside consultants if you are unable to get the help you need from within the church or from local law enforcement. On the other hand, realize that this will not be a zero-balance item in the church budget. You are going to have to spend at least some time, effort and money to increase your security and protect your people.

We live in a dangerous world. Great Britain has learned that trying to eliminate guns through gun control and bans is an abject failure. Attacks against churches and other public places are becoming regular occurrences. Churches need to take some time, now, to plan, prepare, and train for contingencies. Old plans need to be updated on a regular basis. Training must be recurring. Security needs to be added to the church budget. While we shouldn't turn our churches into fortresses or make security a distraction from worship and fellowship, it should be a reassuring, felt presence that will act as a quiet deterrent for would-be attackers.

Scripture tells us that "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and discipline" (2 Tim 1:7, NASB). We do not live by fear, but by faith. God has given us the ability and the right to defend ourselves (Ex 22:2), and has promised His protection as well. We do our part and then trust Him to do His. Please don't let this tragedy pass by and believe that it can't happen to your church! Do something about it!

On the Colorado Church Shootings

I was shocked to hear about today's shootings so close to my new home, and I'm grieving for the families of those killed at the YWAM training center in Arvada and here in the Springs at New Life Church. One or more bad guys with guns ended the lives of four innocent people (including two teenage sisters at New Life) and put several others in the hospital (including the father of the slain girls). We have some new friends who left New Life only minutes before the shooting.

In the midst of this, I am left wondering how long it will be before the gun-control crowd start to make their foolish noises. One of the differences between gun law here in Colorado and where I lived in Texas is that it is legal for those with a Concealed Hangun Permit to carry in church. As I thought about the similarities and differences between the shootings, I realized that there is one major fact that stands out: at the YWAM center, none of the victims, to my knowledge, had a firearm. At New Life there were armed security personnel. The pastor credited the security gal (yes, a woman with a gun!) who shot the murderer with saving lives. The media was emphasizing the rapid response of the Colorado Springs police and El Paso County sheriff's department (only two minutes), but if you read the facts carefully, you will see that by the time they arrived, the shooting was over, and the bad guy was dead.

This only emphasizes all the more the great need for law-abiding citizens to be armed. Even when the police can respond in minutes, it only takes seconds for a bad guy to kill innocent people. Only armed citizens already on the scene, trained and ready, can stop the violence before it is too late. New Life Church wisely had contingency plans in place, the staff were trained, and they had people with guns ready to defend the congregation. Thankfully, the planning and preparation worked, and lives were saved. Before His death, Jesus told His disciples that if they weren't armed, they should sell a coat and get a sword (Luke 22:36). It wasn't his intentions that they be armed to the teeth (two were enough for the group), but simply that they be able to defend themselves.

As a Christian, I believe that human life is one of the most precious gifts God has given us and I hope that I will never have to defend myself, my family, or others. I would like to think that God will keep us from harm, send the bad guys somewhere else and let us live a peaceful life. Today's shootings remind me that the bad guys are never far away, and that we have to always be diligent, watchful and prepared. The Christians shot today were no different from me - I just happened to walk out of a different church this morning, an hour earlier and 8 1/2 miles away. I think that Scripture is pretty clear on my right to use lethal force in self-defense. (Note to gun control people: the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, is an acknowledgment of rights that the people already possess - it does not grant rights. The people grant rights to the government, not the other way around!)

If it had been my church, would there have been someone armed and ready to defend the innocent from some homicidal punk? I know the answer to that question at my church. Do you?