When my husband and I started church hunting in Los Angeles almost 13 years ago, we were considering a place that was biblically sound, had a thriving children’s ministry, had good parking (I know, such an LA thing), and, most importantly, had armed security.

It was 2012, soon after the shooting at a church in Aurora, Colorado, where the pastor’s mother was shot and killed by a man who’d previously been to prison and had an ongoing dispute with another congregant. He was stopped after murdering her by an armed off-duty officer in attendance that day.

Recommended Stories

• Joy Reid doesn’t fear fascism. She fears freedom
• The electricity crisis no one is talking about
• Fixing Social Security: From Fairness Act to faster benefits

POPE DECLARES 15-YEAR-OLD COMPUTER PROGRAMMER CARLO ACUTIS FIRST MILLENNIAL SAINT

In August, we saw an assault on a Mass on the premises of a Catholic school, and the past weekend brought the horror on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in Michigan with an attack that burned their building and killed four people, wounding eight others.

The stories of the survivors should chill anyone with a soul. Much like the Annunciation community members attempted to protect innocent school children, members of the LDS church shielded the children and attempted to escape.

It’s time for all churches to be armed.

This is not a new idea. For years, pro-Second Amendment and situationally aware citizens have been increasingly raising the alarm on the risks of Christians gathering in the nation. Given the most recent mass shootings at places of worship, we need to act now.

Though our Jewish brothers and sisters are at risk of facing antisemitic rhetoric and violence day in and day out, it is rarer for them to experience an attack at a synagogue, perhaps given that many have had armed guards (and sometimes congregants) for decades.

The Christian church needs to catch up.

If our duty is to protect the “least of these” in our society, we need to consider the elderly and the innocents within our communities who deserve the opportunity to pursue spiritual growth safely within the church walls.

The church should be willing to do what Christ calls us to do: lay down our lives for others if needed. But this should not be a necessity. It should be a last resort when protective measures can be taken immediately.

Most smaller churches, those with fewer than 250 members, do not typically have paid security but rely on armed congregants, a method gaining popularity and would easily work in red states where the Second Amendment is protected, but not in a blue state such as California, which severely limits personal protection. 

The Trump Justice Department is suing the county where I live due to its stalling of processing concealed carry licenses within the allotted 90-day timeline: a direct infringement not just on the safety and well-being of Los Angeles County residents, but on our hard-fought constitutional rights.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MICHIGAN MORMON CHURCH SHOOTING

Recently released data from 2024 show that even beyond an increase in armed attacks on churches, other threats toward Christian communities in the country are on the rise. Hundreds of targeted attacks via arson, robbery, threats of violence, and vandalism have been growing year after year in the United States.

We are not experiencing nearly the same level of assault that Christian communities in sub-Saharan Africa, in places such as Uganda, where there is legitimate fear of a genocide, are dealing with every single day. But I worry that the threat to churches will continue to rise, and it is our job to do something before it is too late.

Elisha Krauss is a conservative commentator and speaker who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their four children. She advocates women’s rights, school choice, and smaller government.