JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Houses of worship could designate members to undergo firearms training and carry guns to protect the congregation under a bill advancing at the Mississippi Capitol.
The House voted 86-32 Wednesday to pass House Bill 786, known as the Mississippi Church Protection Act. The proposal moves to the Senate for more work.
House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, is an attorney and minister of a small Baptist church. He said he filed the bill in response to the church slayings last summer in Charleston, South Carolina.
“A number of congregations … don’t have the resources to hire professional security,” said Gipson, whose rural church has about 100 members.
He said the proposal would provide the same sort of immunity from prosecution that state law has given for several years to a person using a gun to defend a home, vehicle or business, if threatened.
Some House members questioned whether the proposal could create safety hazards, or whether some houses of worship could come under law enforcement scrutiny for having armed members.
“What if a mosque full of Muslims decides to have weapons inside of their church?” asked Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville. “Could they be considered terrorists?”
Hines also needled Gipson: “Are you carrying when you stand in the pulpit?”
When Gipson hesitated, Hines pushed for a yes or no answer.
Gipson replied: “There have been occasions when I have, yes.”
Before the legislative session started, Gipson said one current state law seems to generally prohibit carrying guns in churches, but another allows people with enhanced concealed-carry permits to bring guns there. The enhanced concealed-carry permit requires a person to take gun safety classes. Gipson said his proposal is designed to eliminate the conflict in the two current laws.
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Online: House Bill 786 (http://bit.ly/1TnPAWO ).
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Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus .
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It’s a good think that this wasn’t allowed in the 1950s and 1960s. Am I right, Mississippi?
I honestly have no problem with this. I would be more comfortable with it if it required it be open-carry and that signs be posted to alert all visitors on the property that there is an armed security person present, but that’s probably getting into unicorn territory…it is Mississippi after all. I’m willing to bet there are kindergarten classrooms in the country with a higher aggregate educational attainment and IQ level than the Mississippi state legislature. Here they are in session:
Thank God I quit going to church. The last thing I need is to be in a place that’s supposed to be a refuge from the world, and the whole time be wondering who’s going to pull out their sidearm and start blasting away. I avoid places where I feel like I have to be armed to protect myself, but these ministers and other church officials apparently know more about the danger people face at worship than I do.
Stuff like this is how Mississippi is able to proudly cling to its Stupidest State in the Lower 48 title. If they can ever persuade the Palin family to relocate there, they can up(down?)grade to Stupidest State in the Continental United States.
It’s not as if I needed any more reasons to avoid Mississippi or churches, but thanks, anyway.