Faithful pray — & pack a gun

Houses of worship in S. Fla. often have armed parishioners, guards

When Chris Hill goes to church, he’s packing heat. At synagogue, gun shop owner Kim Waltuch is armed, often with a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver.

And when Pastor Scott Weber is in the pulpit looking out over his flock at Connected Life Christian Church in Boca Raton, he has a good idea which worshippers are armed with concealed weapons.

Some are church greeters and ushers. “They are trained to be looking for problems and to know how to deal with them,” said Weber, 53.

In the wake of last weekend’s mass shooting at a Texas church, where 26 people were slain by a gunman, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sparked controversy when he suggested everyone should be armed all the time, including in church.

And a sampling of opinion in South Florida shows that there are already plenty of guns in churches and other religious institutions, strapped to ankles and in the purses of worshippers and on the hips of plainclothes security teams.

If a shooter were to open fire in the sanctuary, some of these pistol-packing parishioners would be prepared to shoot back.

“It’s a good thing to have citizens who are carrying if, heaven forbid, the need arises for

For some religious leaders, bringing a gun to services smacks of sacrilege.

them to defend against evil terrorists or whatever,” said Weber, who is licensed to carry. “I have no problem with that.”

In Florida it is illegal to carry a firearm into schools, on university campuses and in airport passenger terminals.

But the state’s 1.7 million concealed weapons permit-holders are not barred by law from bringing firearms into churches, synagogues and mosques.

At Potential Church in Cooper City, the 20-member volunteer safety and security team is made up of active military and law enforcement members, who drill regularly, according to operations pastor Danny Fernandez. At weekly services, which draw an average of 6,000 worshippers, these security officers are in plainclothes and armed.

The church also hires uniformed Broward Sheriff ’s deputies to handle traffic and security.

“The world is full of people struggling with different life situations,” Fernandez said. “There is a devil out to kill and destroy. There is evil. Unfortunately that it is real, and we want to provide a safe environment.”

The Archdiocese of Miami, which includes 109 parishes and missions in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, has no policy on bringing guns into churches, according to spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta.

“If someone does have the appropriate licensing and training, and they feel they must carry [a weapon] into a church, I would hope they do it discreetly,” she said.

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel called carrying a concealed weapon “an individual decision.”

“If a pastor or rabbi says do not bring weapons in, you have to comply with that or select a different church,” Israel said. “If allowed, you have to feel confident, prepared and that you’ll able to do something with the weapon to stop a threat.”

For some religious leaders, bringing a gun to a worship service smacks of sacrilege.

“How do you justify that you’re following a person who prayed to God to forgive people who were killing him, and at same time take up arms?” said the Rev. Dwayne Black of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale.

The Rev. Wendy Woodruff, pastor at Church of Our Savior in Boynton Beach, doesn’t think arming the flock would be effective.

“If someone comes to do us harm, then that’s a sad thing,” Woodruff said. “I don’t think having someone armed is going to stop it.”

But since houses of worship are not immune to violence, others think it foolish not to be prepared.

The Anti-Defamation League of Florida regularly partners with the Broward Sheriff’s Office to organize security conferences for all local religious institutions and organizations. The subjects covered include conducting counter-surveillance, de-escalating confrontational situations, improving critical infrastructure and preparing for active shooter situations.

“The unfortunate reality is that any religious or communal institution may become a potential target,” ADL Florida Regional Director Sheri Zv said in a statement. “Therefore, proactive security planning must be an integral part of an institution’s culture.”

On Monday — just a day after the shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas — Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale received a report of an armed intruder on campus that came in over the school’s alert system, according to Calvary spokesman Michael Miller.

The report turned out to be a false alarm. But it did trigger a sweep of the campus by Fort Lauderdale police and Calvary’s security team, which includes armed uniformed and plainclothes officers, Miller said.

State law now prohibits anyone except law enforcement officers from carrying guns in K-12 schools and colleges and universities, regardless of whether those schools are public or private.

A Florida House bill that would have allowed concealed guns on such properties was withdrawn in May.

In the Texas shooting, a man who was across the street from the church grabbed his weapon and fired at the gunman, hitting him twice, authorities said. With help from another passer-by, the man then chased the shooter until the gunman took his own life.

It is unclear whether any members of the Texas church were armed.

“It made me sick to my stomach that a place where people come to worship God, to seek peace, could be the scene of violence,” Weber said. “One of the first thoughts I had was, I wonder if there were people in church who were legally armed?

“Churches of all sizes need to be diligent and have a safety policy in place.”

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Chris Hill has a concealed weapons permit and says that he always has a gun on him, including when he goes to church. .