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Churchgoers Armed, Trained in Wake of Mass Shootings

Associated Press

   HASLET, TEXAS --Acrid gun smoke clouded the sunny entrance of a Texas
   church on a recent Sunday.

   Seven men wearing heavy vests and carrying pistols loaded with blanks
   ran toward the sound of the shots, stopping at the end of a long
   hallway. As one peeked into the foyer, the "bad guy" raised the muzzle
   of an AR-15, took aim and squeezed the trigger.

   The simulated gunfight at the church in Haslet was part of a niche
   industry that trains civilians to protect their churches using the
   techniques and equipment of law enforcement. Rather than a bullet, the
   rifle fired a laser that hit Stephen Hatherley's vest, triggering an
   electric shock the 60-year-old Navy veteran later described as a
   "tingle."

   Shootings this month killed more than 30 people at an El Paso Walmart
   and Dayton, Ohio, entertainment district. But gunmen have also targeted
   houses of worships in recent years, including a church in rural
   Sutherland Springs, Texas, where more than two dozen people were killed
   in 2017.

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