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发帖数: 29846 | 1 JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill Friday that allows
some members of churches to undergo firearms training so they can provide
armed security for their congregations.
The Church Protection Act specifies that those designated can carry guns
into church buildings and gives them legal protections. It also allows
people to carry holstered weapons without a permit.
Only two states — Georgia and North Dakota — prohibit all guns from places
of worship, said Taylor Maxwell, a spokesman for Everytown for Gun Safety,
which advocates for gun control laws. Eight states prohibit concealed carry
permit holders from carrying guns into places of worship; other states leave
it up to the place of worship.
The law also makes Mississippi the ninth state in the nation to allow people
to carry holstered guns without a permit, said NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter.
The bill was authored by Baptist pastor and state Rep. Andy Gipson, who says
it's necessary in light of the massacre of nine parishioners during a Bible
study last year in Charleston, South Carolina. He said the law gives small
congregations an option to defend themselves against attack.
Opponents say it endangers people by putting more guns in untrained hands.
It's a difficult discussion that can get politicized and very emotional,
flattening an issue with more nuance, said Pastor Pat Ward, who leads
Orchard Church in Oxford.
"I think in the South people have a certain familiarity with guns and are
also strong in their religious beliefs," Ward said. "But we don't always
think about the relationship between them. What does our familiarity with
guns say about us as people who claim to be following God, who preach about
peace and love?"
The Mississippi Association of Police Chiefs has opposed the portion of the
bill that loosens permit requirements. The group says it dismantles
Mississippi's licensing system and makes it harder to check someone who has
a gun isn't a violent criminal.
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/mississippi-governor-signs-law-allowing-armed-church-members |
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