I'm stunned.

[mollyx]

What...The...Hell?

Religious leaders are divided on this.
Really?!
Why are religious leaders in Arkansas even debating this amongst each other?!
Why... just why?!

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, told the panel after the vote that she may try again with the proposal

Comments

[jayspec]

What? Why does this bother or affect you in any way shape or form? Why on earth are you worried? As minstrel70 can attest, getting a concealed carry permit in New York or New Jersey is darn near impossible in the first place.

[mollyx]

I'm sorry, but you have to understand.
You know I grew up in the church.
The thought of anyone coming in there with a gun never, ever occurred to me.
This thought scares me.

And I'm trying to understand why anyone would need to bring a concealed weapon into church in the first place. Unless you're law enforcement, I fail to see why this is necessary.

[jayspec]

Which is all well and good. But why do you think that a church shouldn't be allowed to set its own weapons policy? If you want to go to a weapons-free church, then by all means go to one! But why would you deny those who want to worship while carrying their firearm the opportunity to do so.

Besides, if people could carry guns in church, perhaps this, this, and this could have been prevented...

[minstrel70]

Indeed. In NY or NJ, if the slightly creepy dude in the back pew is packing heat (legally, anyway), it's about 99.9% likely that he's a cop. Heck, it took me three tries in three different towns over a span of several years to finally get a permit just to own a handgun in NJ. The JCPD basically laughed in my face when I enquired about a concealed-carry permit (out of pure curiosity, as I don't feel any need to carry a gun).

[yolen]

Agreed, it's unnerving.

[nswakko15]

Huh. Maybe they think if they fire into the sky while praying God will listen to them?

[minstrel70]

As a side note, here's a list of what a person has to go through to get a hangun permit (purchase permit - not concealed-carry) in NJ

[namfle]

Piggybacking on what jayspec and minstrel have said, you state the assumption here that only the creepy types would be carrying guns. When I went to Georgia, I saw regular Joes with weapons, just chilling. It's easy for me to see those same regular Joes in church.

I admit, as a New Yorker? It kind of freaked me out to see someone who very clearly was not a cop packing. However, when most people are carrying, it means the crazies are less likely to act out.

-elf-

[minstrel70]

An armed society is a polite society.

[mollyx]

who said that?

[minstrel70]

I honestly haven't a clue, which is why I didn't give proper attribution. I'm sure it wasn't Wayne LaPierre, nor Charlton Heston. I'll Google it later.