A new bill has been filed in the Alabama legislature that gives new meaning to the phrase “God and Guns.”
That’s because the Alabama Church Protection Act, sponsored by State Rep. Lynn Greer (R-Rogersville), would enable places of worship to hire armed guards and would grant them additional legal protections should they choose to do so.
Rep. Greer told AL.com that the bill was introduced in response to an increasingly hostile culture.
“I never dreamed the world would get in the shape that it’s in in my lifetime but it has,” Greer told AL.com on Tuesday. “There are crazy folks on earth and some of them might show up at a church one Sunday.”
In an interview with the site, he added that the need for increased security has become the norm.
“I personally think you need church security,” he said. “In my checking around, I found that most churches do have it. Of course, the attendees don’t necessarily know who they are. I just think it’s necessary.”
According to Greer, several church leaders in his district requested that he introduce the bill. While guns are not prohibited in churches currently, the Church Protection Act would provide legal cover in the event that security personnel would have to exercise that right. Likewise, the legislation would require that church security team members must hold a gun permit and pass a firearms safety course.
The Church Protection Act is not the only pro-Second Amendment bill that has been introduced ahead of this year’s legislative session. This week, Senator Gerald Allen pre-filed a bill that would would allow Alabamians to carry a gun without a permit.
The 2017 legislative session begins on February 7.
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