Houses of Worship Must Arm Themselves

Carrying guns may seem contrary to those who are attending their churches and synagogues, anticipating a spiritual and peaceful encounter. But the facts are in: attending a house of worship might be dangerous, and we all should consider the importance and value of being armed.

The federal government, FEMA in particular, has stepped up to assist in the funding that will be necessary by establishing a grant program, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program:

Today [August 19, 2025], the Department of Homeland Security announced it is awarding $110 million to more than 600 faith-based organizations and other nonprofits across the United States. In the face of violent criminals and radical organizations intent on hurting American communities, the Trump-Vance Administration is helping houses of worship, schools and community centers to harden their defenses against attacks and protect themselves. [snip] In June 2025, DHS announced the first round of funding: $100 million allocated to more than 500 Jewish faith-based organizations across the United States. This initial announcement came after the terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, and the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers. All faith-based institutions were eligible to apply for grant funding to help defend themselves from threats.

FEMA will also be conducting audits to ensure that funds are not misused, as has happened in the past, such as funding the care of illegal immigrants.

Do the number of attacks justify the spending of government dollars? Here are the results of one study:

This is borne out in a report on violence against churches in the US published earlier this year by the evangelical group the Family Research Council. It declares that ‘hostility against American churches is not only on the rise but also accelerating.’ Identifying some 436 incidents against churches in 2023 — more than double the number in 2022, according to their records, and more than eight times the number in 2018 — it warned that these are ‘destructive and have the potential to intimidate a religious community.’

As a result of these increasing attacks, people are forming organizations to provide gun training to these houses of worship, and are helping to form volunteer organizations within the churches. Here is one example of a security organization that has been formed:

Churchgoers in Boise, Idaho, are taking extra precautions by arming themselves and engaging in ‘warrior training’ before attending weekly services due to a rise in violent attacks nationwide. Amid this surge in violent incidents at places of worship, Sheepdog Church Security, founded by Kris Moloney in 2014, has seen a significant increase in parishioners seeking training for safety and security teams. Initially starting as a small company, Moloney’s background in the military and law enforcement led him to establish a safety team at his own Minnesota church before expanding his services nationwide and training over 6,000 individuals.

One person who saw the urgent need for Jews in particular to carry guns was Sheila Nazarian. She points out that in some synagogues, there is protection within the sanctuary. Once a person steps outside, however, all bets are off. A person who is not armed is vulnerable to attack outside the venue or in the parking lot:

Every time I express this position, especially alongside my broader conviction that it is extraordinarily important for Jews to obtain CCWs and carry guns, I hear a wave of pushback from within the Jewish community, which is still largely opposed to gun ownership. But their arguments are always flimsy at best and dangerously deluded at worst. These critics point to the use of deadly firearms in attacks like the embassy shooting, moralistically proclaiming that we should be pushing to regulate weapons instead of arming ourselves in return, and that antisemitism would be less deadly if it wasn’t backed up by the force of a lethal weapon. But this argument neglects to consider basic realities—first and most obviously, the fact that antisemitism continues to rise in America.

Jewish and Christian organizations are not the only ones vulnerable to attacks. A secular dark cloud has settled over our country, and all faithful persons are at risk, especially if they attend Mass or services.

One way to encourage congregants to come back to church is for them to know it’s a safe environment with protection.

[originally published in American Thinker]