Church gun event misguided

June 5, 8:34 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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Ken Pagano (AP Photo/Aaron Borton, The Courier-Journal)

You'd think as a Gun Rights Examiner, I'd be all in favor of an invitation by a Kentucky pastor to have people bring their guns to church. After all, we've seen from recent news that people intent on using guns to commit violence will bring them where they want. Likewise, we've seen that arms in moral private hands are literally lifesavers.

So why might I have anything negative to say about New Bethel Church in Valley Station pastor Ken Pagano "encouraging people to bring their guns to church on June 27"? And why might I be unimpressed by his assertion that "This is for anybody that believes in second amendment rights. And that is the buttress to first amendment rights"?

Am I taking the side of Rev. James Tennyson of the Justice Resource Center, who has "gotten at least 300 guns off the streets through their gun buyback program" when he says "We are going back to the wild, wild west"?

No, of course not. I've made my position on so-called "buybacks" more than clear, and the "wild west" canard simply and demonstrably has been discredited so thoroughly that only the ignorant or closed-minded zealots would even bring it up.

So what's my beef? This:

People can come into the church wearing their gun as long as the weapon is unloaded and in a secure holster.

And this:

According to Pagano, a local police officer will provide security at the open carry celebration...

The idea that police are the "only ones" who can be entrusted with loaded firearms should be offensive to everyone who believes in the right of the people to keep and bear arms. And while I get the symbolism and perception Pastor Pagano is trying to convey, I challenge the notion that encouraging deference to and reliance on official elitism--along with actual defenselessness-- is an effective or desirable way to "promote responsible gun ownership and gun safety."

Also see: "Bring your gun to church day" by Denver Gun Rights Examiner Dan Bidstrup.