Faith groups reevaluating church and school security measures after recent attacks in Michigan, Minnesota
Church and school security is being scrutinized across the nation in the wake of Sunday’s deadly shooting at Mormon church in Michigan and the August killing of students at a Catholic church in Minnesota. “We’re pretty busy,” Jimmy Graham, founder and CEO of the Able Shepherd emergency readiness training company, told “The Epoch Times.”
Unlike their public counterparts, private school organizations, regardless of faith, are not in a position to partner with municipal police departments for school resource officers, but they can do business with private security firms. Although gun laws vary by state and locality, Graham believes the Second Amendment and the right to protect children supersede local regulations in an era when hundreds of them have been killed in school shootings.
“Let’s not ask permission,” he said. “How many dead kids to the point where we’ll make it allowed?”
Although Able Shepherd prioritizes training people first, the firm guides on other security measures. Church leaders have specific needs in that they want to preserve the architectural integrity of their facilities, even though the size and locations of windows and entry points could present vulnerabilities. “We’ve been able to work with that and build security measures into the structures,” Graham said.
Religious groups throughout the nation are affirming and enhancing their existing security protocols to put concerned families at ease. In New Mexico, for example, all school employees in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe must attend safety training coordinated by the local sheriff’s department. In California, leaders of a school in Paso Robles are planning to install bulletproof glass around the front office and the entire back side of the school.
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Twenty-three states limit firearms on school campuses to authorized security personnel, while Kansas allows school employees who have concealed carry licenses to bring guns to school if granted school permission. In Missouri, school employees who want to carry a gun must complete required training in addition to having the license and school permission.
-Lee Hartman | Metro Voice Photo: Freepik AI
