Virginia’s Attorney General, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, recently issued an opinion clarifying self-defense was a valid reason (see here) for carrying a gun in a house of worship with a concealed carry permit. Previously this had been ambiguous although to my knowledge no one was prosecuted for it.
From the Washington Post:
Parishioners carried Bibles in embroidered cases, babies with ribbons in their hair, and flutes, violins and sheet music into Immanuel Bible Church for Palm Sunday services.
And a few carried guns, tucked into waistbands, hidden under suit jackets.
At least a dozen members of this Springfield congregation routinely bring concealed weapons to services, said the Rev. Steve Holley, the church’s pastor of ministries. Since the Virginia attorney general published an advisory opinion last week on weapons in houses of worship, Holley wonders whether more of his flock will have “a Bible in one holster and a handgun in the other as they come to church.”
More reading: Washington Post
