Overview

The VSO Gun Channel recently covered a church-security initiative led by Right to Bear in partnership with Protect His House. The day-long course, held near the host’s home, combined classroom instruction with scenario-based drills designed to improve threat assessment, communication and emergency response for religious congregations across the country.

Pros

• Emphasizes realistic, locally relevant training rather than expensive, all-encompassing fortifications.
• Includes medical-emergency drills alongside active-threat scenarios, underscoring that most incidents are not shootings.
• Encourages participants to recognize personal limits, noting that not everyone may be willing or able to use lethal force.

Cons

• High-end security upgrades can quickly become cost-prohibitive, leaving smaller congregations at a disadvantage.
• Scenario-based exercises deliberately include unwinnable situations, which may be psychologically taxing for volunteers.

Key Quotes

“There is no shame in knowing that you are not able to pull a trigger. But you need to know that.”

“You guys are supposed to fail these because it is not about winning, it’s about thinking about what could happen.”