Think About it, “That Never Happened.”

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Carl Chinn

Carl Chinn

Jun 27, 2026

The TV series, “West Wing” was a portrayal of life in the White House. It was well done, but Hollywood producers persistently script plausible but false narratives to stimulate liberal ideologies.

West Wing did that in the 3^rd season, episode 6, where a substory about a church shooting was being covered in the Press Room. White House Press Secretary, C.J. Craig (played by Allison Janney) is fielding questions from reporters.

Here are some excerpts (any “…” is irrelevant chatter omitted)

Reporter 1: “… what kind of gun …?”

Craig: “Which gun?”

Reporter 1: “The first gun.”

Craig: “It was a .38 pistol …The shooting took place approximately 15 minutes into the 9:00 service at United Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas … Fifteen minutes into the service, Daryl Bechtell … walked into the sanctuary … looking for his estranged wife. He fired … missing his wife and hitting Harold Winter ... Mr. Winter is 65 and currently undergoing surgery … Mr. Bechtell fired … between two and four more rounds … That's when Ron Cahrl pulled a 9 millimeter Glock from under his suit coat and fired off three rounds in the direction of Mr. Bechtell. It's unclear which of those rounds struck Melissa Markey.”

Reporter 2: “… her age?”

Craig: “… nine years old tomorrow … Mr. Bechtell's gun was registered … Ron Cahrl had a license to carry a concealed weapon …”

Then, a staffer walks over to Craig and hands her a note. After reading it, Ms. Craig looks up at the reporters to say, “Well, Melissa Markey died.”

Think about it

This is the kind of ideology so many have about guns in church. While a valid concern to be trained and drilled around, we have studied 2,713 deadly force incidents over a 24-year period. In that time, 876 innocent victims were killed in acts of violence at, or relative to, faith-based organizations. Not one of them was killed (or even hurt) by such defensive actions as described in that Hollywood fabrication.

Not one.

Yet, the argument against armed defenders in church is often based on this scenario.

That said, train like your life, and the life of others, depends on it. But don’t let anyone carelessly toss that objection around like history. It’s never happened.

But we can show many times children died with nobody between them and killers.

Consider SOS.26 for applicable training. https://www.fbsnamerica.com/events/security-operations-summit-2026

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