7 Principles to Prepare Your Church for an Active Shooter

By Phil Thompson

Last week, a man shot and killed two college students on their way into a Bible study at Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa. Then he killed himself.

Two and a half weeks earlier, a man entered Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California. After chaining the doors shut, he shot into an after-church lunch gathering, killing one person and wounding five others.

In late February, a man visiting his children inside The Church in Sacramento shot and killed the three children, the visitation supervisor, and himself.

These high-profile incidents have many pastors asking, “What should I do to ensure our church can gather safely? How can we avoid an active shooter incident at our church? How can we avoid mass casualties if a shooting does unfold?”

As a former security manager, concealed weapons instructor, and church planter, I’ve found seven principles help me think carefully about these important questions.... Read More

Here are a few things that I learned at a active shooter seminar that the Marshall County Sheriff's Department hosted in the wake of the Sutherland Springs church shooting.

1. Church members and regular attendees carrying concealed weapons should be known to the church leaders and the church's security team. They should have training on how to respond appropriately in a active shooter situation. Some insurance companies insuring churches will not insure a church that permits guns on its premises. If they learn that a church is permitting guns on its premises, it will cancel the church's policy.

2. With the arrival of the police armed church members and regular attendees should place their guns on the floor, raise their hands, and move away from their guns. Otherwise the responding police officers may mistake them for the shooter or an accomplice.

3. Church leaders and security team members should famiarize themselves with what is going on in the lives of their church members and regular attendees--divorce, domestic violence, mental illness, etc.

4. All doors with the exception of the entrance where members of the security team are stationed should be locked. This may mean replacing some locks so that doors are self-locking and can be only opened with a key or from the inside.

5. Security team members should be posted in the parking lot as well as at the entrance to the church building. They should vet unfamiliar or suspicious people pulling into the parking lot. This includes church members and regular attendees who have been identified as high risk.

6. In Kentucky a security team member or other church member or regular attendee who shoots someone even in self-defense will be arrested, any guns will be seized, and the shooting will be investigated and the findings submitted to a grand jury for a determination of whether that individual should be charged with a criminal offense. If the grand jury determines not to charge them with a criminal offense, their guns will be returned to them.

7. Churches need to upgrade their first aid kits to the kind that contains bandages and sterile pads suitable for treating gunshot wounds. A church may wish to see that its members and regular attendees receive first aid training in the treatment of gunshot wounds.

8. Police officers responding to an active shooter situation will make note of anyone who is wounded. However, their first priority will be neutralize the shooter.