{"id":25563,"date":"2020-01-02T11:37:49","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=25563"},"modified":"2020-01-02T11:37:49","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:37:49","slug":"25563","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=25563","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Alabama lawmaker prepares bill to allow deadly force in church for self-defense<\/a><\/p>\n

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) – A proposed new law aims to help protect places of worship in Alabama.<\/p>\n

One state lawmaker says he’s preparing a bill to allow the use of deadly force in church for self- defense and the defense of others.<\/p>\n

Rep. Lynn Greer (R- Rogersville) tells ABC 33\/40 he expects this year\u2019s bill to be similar to the one he filed the past two years. But he says this year he\u2019s been working with the District Attorneys Association and the Attorney General’s Office to improve it.<\/p>\n

Greer expects the bill to allow a person to use deadly physical force in self-defense or the defense of another if that force is used against an aggressor committing or attempting to commit a crime involving death, serious physical injury, robbery in the first degree, or kidnapping in the first degree on the premises of a church.<\/p>\n

Greer expects his bill to include training from sheriff\u2019s offices for church security members, and that it would provide immunity from criminal prosecution or civil action for a person using such deadly force.<\/p>\n

Pastor Darryl Warren believes that bill could help, as he works on security for New Saint James Baptist Church in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn church, it\u2019s disheartening to know one day we may even need metal detectors in church, but this is where we\u2019ve gotten and it\u2019s disheartening to know someone would come into the church and do harm in God\u2019s house but we live in a fallen world,\u201d said Warren.<\/p>\n

He has a eight person security team and nine cameras installed, monitoring inside and outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cA third phase might even be hired security if it comes to that and then having the sheriff\u2019s department to come in and do some training as well,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we want to cover all the bases we can and make the members feel as secure as they can while they\u2019re worshiping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defense attorney Ben Preston believes the law already covers the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel you have the right to defend yourself in certain situations no matter where you\u2019re at,\u201d he told us.<\/p>\n

But says adding specific language could strengthen that.<\/p>\n

He does have concerns about what the immunity would include and who would determine who and what qualifies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re just going to give blanket immunity, it sounds like they would never be charged period,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich would, then they\u2019re not being charged, they\u2019re not bonding out, they\u2019re not having to wait for the stand your ground hearing, waiting for the judge to decide if they\u2019re going to prosecute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preston notes that we are still waiting for the bill to be released to read the exact language and learn what will be included in the immunity section.<\/p>\n

Pastor Warren says immunity may offer assurance to his security team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat they are not going to be held liable for carrying out the act of defending someone in church,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, if you have legislation to take care of that, it kind of removes the sense of- I\u2019m worrying about if I do this, what\u2019s going to happen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greer got his bill through the House in 2018, but it died in the Senate.<\/p>\n

If his bill does make it through the House in 2020, Senator Arthur Orr (R- Decatur) tells ABC 33\/40 he plans to sponsor it in the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should help places of worship protect themselves,\u201d Orr told ABC 33\/40.<\/p>\n

He says the state doesn\u2019t need to encourage reckless behavior, but that he\u2019s looking at what could be done to still add a layer of protection.<\/p>\n

Orr added that he\u2019s looking at what other states have passed, including Texas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alabama lawmaker prepares bill to allow deadly force in church for self-defense BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) – A proposed new law aims to help protect places of worship in Alabama. One state lawmaker says he’s preparing a bill to allow the use of deadly force in church for self- defense and the defense of others. Rep. … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rkba","category-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25564,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563\/revisions\/25564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}