Colorado Springs she wasn't a security guard

[Damage control]

Email I recieved today from a coworker.



The following letter to the editor was actually published in the Boulder Daily Camera, Dec. 15th,
(usually a very liberal newspaper). This demonstrates how political correctness has taken over and dominates our so-called news media. Thought you'd like to know...



On Dec. 9, a lone gunman armed with a rifle and two handguns shot four people before being shot in kind by what the media has dubbed a 'security guard' who works at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

It turns out that this brave woman is not a uniformed security guard, nor is she a contractor hired specifically for protection. She, like many others throughout the state, is a civilian licensed to carry a concealed handgun.

She took the necessary courses required by law, passed a criminal background investigation, and thus is legally allowed to conceal a handgun thanks to Colorado's 'shall issue' policy.

No one is willing to acknowledge that it was a law-abiding civilian who legally carried a concealed handgun to church and used it in defense of others. It's easier to say that a 'professional' handled the situation, rather than Jane Q. Citizen. Being that forthright might encourage others to exercise their liberties as residents of Colorado and do the same. Such a movement is inconsistent with the, 'Run away and let the police handle it' that is so typical of other mass shootings, where gunmen kill at leisure and often end their sprees by taking their own lives once they have run out of targets.

A Colorado resident with a permit to carry a concealed weapon may carry it anywhere in the state, with a few key exceptions. The University of Colorado is one of those exceptions.

The gunman certainly did not expect anyone in a church to be capable of shooting back and, by all accounts, was willing to cause hundreds of casualties. What would have happened if he chose any one of the crowded lecture halls on the CU campus? It would have been nothing short of another massacre, and the shooter would have been guaranteed ample time because the regents have made what is essentially an executive order that prohibits anyone, even those otherwise licensed to do so, from carrying a weapon to protect themselves and others. They deem it detrimental to the educational environment if people were able to defend themselves. So, instead, we are told to run away and let the police handle it. Just like in Omaha. Just like in Littleton. Just like at Virginia Tech.

Thanks to the brave actions of Jeanne Assam, we won't be adding Colorado Springs to that list.

Damage Control

[mjf]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...adlines-nation

Posted under fair use.

Colorado Springs may change gun rules for guards

Some say a well-armed young man's attack on a church underscores the need to change a city ordinance so that security officers may carry semiautomatic weapons.

By DeeDee Correll, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

December 15, 2007

DENVER -- In Colorado Springs, where a troubled young man brought an assault rifle, two semiautomatic handguns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition to a church, security guards aren't allowed to carry anything more powerful than a revolver.

That could change early next year, when the city will consider a proposal to permit licensed security officers to carry semiautomatic weapons.

The proposed change doesn't come in response to Sunday's attack at New Life Church, where Matthew Murray, 24, shot five people before a volunteer guard stopped him with several shots. But some say the situation underscores the need for security officers to be as well-prepared as the criminals they may face.

"It's just a common-sense issue. Do you want an old, outdated six-shooter up against a machine gun?" said John Pepe of Cheyenne Mountain Security, a private firm in Colorado Springs.

The existing ordinance dates back to the early 1980s, City Clerk Kathryn Young said. Though the ordinance itself does not specify what types of weapons a guard may carry, an attached policy spells out that guards may carry revolvers capable of holding as many as eight rounds of ammunition. The allowed revolvers, which can have 4- or 6-inch barrels, include .38s, .38 Specials and .357 magnums.

Young said that she wasn't sure why city officials originally created the restriction, but that it wasn't common for people to carry semiautomatics then.

The regulation applies only to those who work as paid contract security officers, city spokeswoman Sue Skiffington-Blumberg said.

She said the restriction on semiautomatic weapons did apply to volunteers such as Jeanne Assam, who was working at New Life Church during Sunday's assault.

Assam returned fire with a Beretta 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, hitting Murray several times before he shot himself in the head.

A coalition of security firms has urged the city to change its position for a long time, Young said. About eight months ago, city officials began examining the policy, and they intend to propose changes in January.

Young said other Colorado cities had a variety of policies on the issue, with some restricting guards to revolvers and others allowing semiautomatic weapons.

The biggest disadvantage of a revolver is that it holds only five to seven rounds, whereas a semiautomatic can hold as many as 15, Pepe said. "If you're in a line of fire, you want the best weapon possible," he said.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which favors tighter firearms controls, said he saw the logic in allowing security officers to have the same firepower as a potential assailant. "We allow ordinary citizens to carry these things around. Why we do that, I don't know. But if we're going to allow that, we're probably forcing the hand of security guards to do the same," he said.

The real solution, he said, is for Congress to enact a new ban on assault weapons. "Then we wouldn't have to have an arms race going," he said.

Looks to me she was a volunteer security guard (perhaps given that title after the shootout) , not employed, carrying her pistol legally under her ccw...

So, now I'm wondering, in PA with a LTCF, would it be legal for someone to work as a volunteer security guard without the act 235 (since volunteering is not employment)?

[scjbob]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...adlines-nation

Posted under fair use.



So, now I'm wondering, in PA with a LTCF, would it be legal for someone to work as a volunteer security guard without the act 235 (since volunteering is not employment)?

I wonder the same thing, considering that I recently volunteered for security duty at my church.

[shermdo]

My guess is that she was a volunteer and not compensated for this volunteer work. I believe that would make a big difference regarding the PA requirement. If the individual is not an employee or a contractor but rather just a volunteer then I would not see how she could be required to have the ACT 235. Keep in mind that I am NOT a lawyer but I am a thinker (sometimes).

[Turkeyhoagie]

Looks to me she was a volunteer security guard (perhaps given that title after the shootout) , not employed, carrying her pistol legally under her ccw...

So, now I'm wondering, in PA with a LTCF, would it be legal for someone to work as a volunteer security guard without the act 235 (since volunteering is not employment)?

volunteer security guard? heck no, I'm just a private citizen, and a concerned member of this church, and I can't remember if it's my week to lock the doors and turn the heat back down or not.. and if I happen to be armed, well that's my legal right.

[lonehiker]

just as i prevously posted, it sometimes takes a while for the truth to surface !!

[sfg]

I wonder what they mean by all the training she underwent.

My understanding is that she was a former LEO. I would hope she was trained!

[wboggs]

What is act 235?

I would be surprised if a volunteer wouldn't be able to carry as a private citizen unless the organization they volunteered for had an objection. Those who volunteer here; does the organization you volunteer for know you carry a gun in that duty?

BTW, I', real surprised a liberal rag allowed such an article; that article actually teeters on the edge of dishonest to the conservative side.

[DPD15]

Hey folks, Ms Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attended one of the morning services and then volunteered as a guard during another service. The security guards are members of the church who are screened and not "mercenaries" hired to walk around to provide security.

I believe credit was duly given. So, yes, she is a "private citizen" and not a "trained security guard" so to speak, and she has a legal CCW in CO. As far as training, I assumed she received training with MPD.

She did good....