A man shot and killed a Mormon bishop at a chapel in Visalia, California and then was later shot dead by police Sunday afternoon. Police and church officials identified the slain bishop as Clay Sannar, 40, of the Visalia 2nd Ward. Visalia Stake spokesman Ralph Jordan said Sannar was conducting interviews after the three-hour block of morning meetings when a man asked to see him. The man shot Sannar in the foot then pulled him into the foyer, where he shot him in the face.
It is interesting to note that the LDS Church bans firearms from all their church buildings in Utah for several years, but that has not stopped recent and past shooting on LDS Church property. In 2008, a woman was shot at an LDS Church building in Lehi, Utah, a woman was wounded from a shooting just outside the Ogden temple. In 2009, a man plotted a shooting spree at the Jordan River Temple.
Maybe Church officials should reconsider allowing those with a Concealed Carry Permit to have a firearm for protection. There are several other cases where normal parishioners from other denominations have saved lives in their own churches by having a legal CCW permit and being in the church when disaster attacks. One which comes to mind is the incident a couple years ago in Colorado when the volunteer security committee member was instrumental in stopping a shooter who had over 1,000 rounds with an AK47 as he was heading into the church. With an estimated 7,000 in attendance a lot of lives were saved because she was there and she was armed.
Read the News Articles relating to this incident:
Mormon Bishop Shot: Clay Sannar Killed By Former Church Member
LDS bishop shot and killed at California meetinghouse
Mormon bishop fatally shot in California chapel; gunman killed
Simply put, “gun free zones,” simply allow more crime to occur. Why carry a loaded weapon around? Just in case I need it. No, I am not paranoid, and it is not just because I’m a firearms instructor. I’m simply prepared. I do not expect to have a fire, but I have home owners insurance and fire extinguishers just in case. I do not expect to be in a car wreck, but I have auto insurance and wear my seat belt just in case. These are just a couple of the many reasons why I carry a loaded firearm.
Please note that many people might feel safe at church, but they are not safe since criminals do not care about any laws or policies prohibiting firearms in select places. Since it would be unfeasible to set up every Utah meeting house with fences, checkpoints at all gates, armed security patrolling the parking lots and entrances, and metal detectors at each entrance, it would only make sense that a Church will not make you any safer than a school. We know how those bans of firearms on school property turnout: deadly shootings.
Most states (not including Utah) have a no trespassing with a firearm stance built into the concealed carry law. For example, when I go to church in Arizona, the Church may say no guns allowed, and if someone were to somehow find out that I was legally carrying my concealed handgun with a permit, they could ask me to leave. If I refused to leave, then I could be charged with trespassing. However in Utah, the law makes me a criminal the second I forget to disarm before entering an LDS church.
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