There has never been a recorded incident of a CCW holder entering a house of worship and randomly shooting innocent worshippers.
CCW holders are trained and tested before they are licensed.
My entire op-ed piece that was published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on August 19, 2012. I have published it all below or you may go to:
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/being-in-a-position-to-protect-yourself-166681256.html
Being In A Position To Protect Yourself
By ALAN STOCK
SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Aug. 19, 2012 | 2:06 a.m.
It was just six days after the tragic shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin where six innocent worshippers were gunned down during a prayer service. The Torah portion of the Saturday Shabbos (Sabbath) service had just begun when a crackle and pop emanated from the back of the room followed by what seemed like a five-foot fireball that rose above the curtain that divides men and women during the service.
The first reaction that many people had was that this was some kind of attack. The doctor standing behind me had seen this kind of explosion before and thought it could be an oxygen tank blowing up, but quickly realized that the event was too tame for that kind of event. Nonetheless, he quickly pushed everyone out of the way and made his way to a woman in the rear. It turns out that she was wearing a device to neutralize perfume/cologne scents. Somehow this unit fell from her, hit the ground and erupted into a fireball that made an explosive sound.
Not knowing the source of the turbulence, several people who had concealed-carry permits and who were carrying firearms headed toward the disruption. None of these CCW holders actually pulled their weapons from their holsters, but they were prepared in case there was a need.
One rabbi from Los Angeles was in attendance and told our rabbi that in his synagogue people were asked to not carry any weapons. My thoughts wandered to how those religious attendees would protect themselves in the event of a very real attack. I also wondered why anyone would even announce the fact that the people inside a given institution were unprepared to defend themselves. I recalled the towns in America that actually advertise you are entering so-and-so town where almost every home is armed. These towns had little to no crime.
During the summer of 1999, a crazed crypto-Nazi lunatic decided to shoot up a Jewish center in the San Fernando Valley just outside of Los Angeles. He approached one center but decided against carrying out the act when he saw there was an armed guard. This scene was repeated two more times and in each case he left when he sensed that he would be in danger during his planned act of terror. The fourth center he approached did not have an armed guard and he proceeded to unload his weapon into a group of children playing that afternoon. Some of the children were hurt but none was killed, thank God. He proceeded to shoot and kill a mailman and was later captured.
Between Jan. 1, 1999, and July 2, 2012, there were 562 deadly force incidents (DFI) recorded at faith-based organizations in the United States. The motives behind these incidents include domestic spillover, personal conflict, robbery, gang- or drug-related issues, mental illness, religious bias and random acts of violence. Weapons of choice included guns, knives, autos, explosives and other means of attack (poison, fire, etc.) Forty percent of these attacks occurred during events such as religious observations.
No one would (nor should) suggest that people without training and/or proper licensure of weapons carry a firearm into a house of worship. However, there has never been a recorded incident of a CCW holder entering a house of worship and randomly shooting innocent worshippers. For those who suggest that an innocent bystander could be shot by a CCW holder trying to protect innocent people from an attack, I would remind them that these CCW holders are trained and tested before they are licensed.
I would ask those who are skeptics of CCW holders carrying a weapon into a house of worship how they would protect the innocent in the event of such an attack that occurred at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. A 911 call to police might result in the armed authorities arriving in 5 minutes, more or less. In that short time, how many innocent lives might be lost?
On Oct. 16, 1999, an unemployed merchant seaman drove his pick-up truck through Luby’s cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. He proceeded to stalk, shoot and kill 23 people while wounding another 20 before committing suicide. The killer approached 32-year-old Suzanna Hupp and her parents. Hupp reached for her revolver in her purse, only to realize she had left it in her vehicle to comply with Texas law which, at the time, prohibited carrying a concealed weapon. Her father Al, 71, rushed the shooter in an attempt to subdue him but was fatally shot in the chest. A short time later her mother Ursula, 67, was shot in the head and killed as she cradled her wounded husband.
Because Suzanna Hupp complied with the law, she had no means to protect or defend her parents, herself or anyone else in Luby’s on that fateful day.
Whether the religious institution is Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Sikh or any other denomination, it is incumbent on those attending these houses of worship to take the responsibility to defend themselves. Good intentions by law enforcement agencies to protect innocents from spontaneous attacks do not guarantee successful intervention. Good intentions by CCW holders in a house of worship, also, do not guarantee successful intervention. However, with the understanding that the pathway to hell (and death) is paved with good intentions, I would still opt to be in a position to protect my family, my friends and myself rather than become a helpless shooting target.
Alan Stock is a local Las Vegas radio and television talk show host.