Florida legislators want more Glocks for the flocks

News and commentary for Floridians and other thoughtful Americans

At the same time the Florida Legislature is considering a bill to lower the age to buy rifles—thus making them more readily available to teenagers—our esteemed representatives are also pondering a proposal to allow more guns in churches.

There are so many dangerous and irresponsible people out there with firearms that armed guards are now required at sanctuaries, we are told without the slightest hint of irony.

Guns are the solution to the gun problem. We need more Glocks for the flocks.

This is brilliant marketing, right? Smith & Wesson can sell you both the problem and the solution. They make money on the front end and the back end. Only in America!

One of the two bills being debated in Tallahassee would allow armed volunteers to provide security at houses of worship without having to go through the nettlesome process of acquiring the licenses that are necessary for professional security companies.

This would allow little chapels to have armed protection just like the megachurches, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, Don Gaetz, a Republican from Niceville, says.

“Some houses of worship can’t afford to hire outside security services, and they’re now beginning to use volunteers.”

But could a volunteer get in trouble for not having a security license, especially if he or she were involved in a shootout?

Gaetz says his bill is designed to address that.

This, even though Florida law already allows the open and concealed carry of handguns in most places, including churches, unless they prohibit it. In other words, churches, synagogues and mosques already have the authority to allow guys with guns to stand around and look menacing.

But just in case somebody raises questions about whether they should have a license to kill, this bill would clear that up.

It will come as no surprise that the legislation is backed by gun rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association, which, over the years, has received tens of millions of dollars from gun manufacturers.

And speaking of rifles, the Florida House of Representatives in a 74-37 vote recently passed a bill lowering the minimum age to purchase rifles from 21 to 18.

This would reverse a decision the Legislature made a few years ago to raise the age to 21 following the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 were murdered.

The 19-year-old Parkland shooter used a Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport II semi-automatic rifle, an AR-15 style firearm.

So far, there has been no action on this bill in the State Senate.

Now, it’s easy enough to point out the irony of fighting guns with guns, especially in the context of a religion like Christianity where one of its tenets is “turning the other cheek.”

But gun violence respects no boundaries. Certainly not schools, as we have tragically seen. Nor, to a smaller extent, churches.

According to the Violence Prevention Project, between the years 2000 and 2025, there were 246 shootings at houses of worship in the United States, resulting in the deaths of 307 people.

While handguns seem to be the weapon of choice for the majority of mass murders, rifles are responsible for a disproportionate share of the fatalities.

The legislative response to these safety threats continues to be more guns, whether we like it or not.

As the Brennan Center for Justice notes:

“In recent years, the Supreme Court has dramatically expanded the scope of the Second Amendment to confer an individual right to bear arms. The result has been to expose countless sensible gun laws to constitutional attack, even as the country reels from an epidemic of gun violence.”

Data shows that over the past two decades, Christian churches have been the hardest hit by gun violence, accounting for more than 94 percent of shootings. But that is proportional to religious beliefs. Among those who have religious affiliations in the United States (a declining percentage of the population), only about 7 percent are non-Christian.

But let’s put it in perspective:

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 400,000 Americans died from firearm-related injuries in the past 25 years, meaning the number of shooting deaths in houses of worship is but a tiny fraction of that total.

In fact, the place you are most likely to be involved in a mass shooting isn’t a church or a school, it’s a private residence. Between 61 percent and 64 percent of all mass murders occur in homes.

For public mass shootings, the most likely place to get caught up is at work where about 30 percent of these types of shootings take place. Retail stores account for 17 percent, and bars and restaurants 12-13 percent. School shootings account for 7-12 percent.

And while Florida legislators may be making it easier to have armed security at Sunday School, according to the FBI, the most dangerous day of the week for mass shootings is actually Monday.

Related:

Florida House passes bill to lower the age to purchase a long gun to 18 years

Church shootings: What we can learn from the patterns of attacks on houses of worship

What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.

J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press, a Florida online news service dedicated to sharing news and commentary relevant to Florida readers, whether it originates in the Sunshine State or elsewhere. Bruce is an award-winning former newspaper editor, journalist and author living in Florida, his native state.

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