Neighbor,
I've been a member of a Church Security Team for the last 5 yrs or so. The law is fairly clear and the TLS lawyer was as well when he/she stated "If you are paid, or represent yourself as a security officer, you are probably required to be licensed." You can call yourself a Safety Team vs Security Team but you can't pass the integrity test if you have people walking around with concealed handguns, patrolling or stationed at specific locations and times, comm systems, and responsibilities (whether written or not). The letter and intent of the law was for individuals who perform "security" related tasks to be trained, licensed, insured and qualified to do those tasks with a full understanding of the consequences for not doing them correctly.
Enforcement has been non-existent. I try to follow it pretty closely and I have not read of a single prosecution. I believe (opinion here) that there are at least a couple of reasons. Who wants to prosecute a Church is one. Another is a standard scenario. Bad guy gets up during the sermon and approaches the platform, produces a weapon, and tries to murder the pastor. Armed congregant sees what is happening and draws his handgun and shoots the bad guy. This scenario looks exactly the same whether the bad guy was shot by an astute parishioner who is legally carrying his sidearm with a CHL or a trained, licensed, insured, qualified Security Officer performing his duty. In addition, the DPS is the only entity that enforces Private Security laws so the responding LEOs would most likely never ask the question.
What happens after the shooting is where the difference is. Who pays for the lawyers? Will the Church's liability policy cover an overt criminal act. Will the Church be found complicit? What protections are afforded the shooter as a private citizen? What if he missed and someone else is injured, whose insurance pays for that?
As you may have gathered, our Church partners with a Security Company to provide security services for the Church, Staff and Congregants. The Church provides the labor and recruits the team members and has a contract with the Security Company. It provides the most cost effective, competent Church Security Program they can afford. But it is not free and it takes a while to get into place. The Security Operators themselves go through 10 training cycles a year that include: Advanced 1st Aid, Combat Medicine, Dealing with difficult parents, Handling, Emergency Action Planning, Spotting Abused Children, Spotting Child Abusers, and 3 shooting qualifications.
It has worked out well for our Church.
