By Dean Weingarten
Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- I was on the security detail at The Vertical Church on Sunday. I noticed that Jeremy was open carrying, so I asked him if I could take a picture after the service.
He was kind enough to wait with his lovely wife until I handed off to the next volunteer. Then we stepped outside to take the picture. The lobby was fairly crowded. We are having record numbers attend for August in Yuma!
The can in his left hand is non-alcoholic, they are sold in the Church lobby. The pistol is a Sig Sauer P220 in .45 ACP.
Carrying to church was required by law in some of the early colonies. Now that church shootings are in the news occasionally, the practice is making a comeback.
One of my daughter’s high school boyfriends was an early adopter of the Texas concealed carry permit. He told me that he always carried at church, and that one of his regrets was that he happened not to be at a service, which he usually attended, when it was attacked. I think two or three people were killed.
Update: The next Sunday, the 30th of August, another security team volunteer was not on duty, but he was open carrying with his lovely family.
Pastor Jason was gracious enought to pose with the author, who is openly carrying, after the service. Open carry is more common in the summer months, with the temperatures well over a hundred.
Many people carry in church now. Quite a few are organized into volunteer security teams. Jean Assam was part of such a team when she was able to stop the killing at the New Life Church in Colorado in December of 2007.
c2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch
About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.