Are you safe in your House of Worship? Time to deputize citizens

If the events of this past weekend are an indicator to the question of whether we are safe in a House of Worship, the answer is no.

The President is right that it is time for people to consider how we will be able to protect ourselves in soft targets like churches, synagogues and mosques. It's beyond having a legal right to carry a firearm. Pennsylvania certainly has that already, although I don't know if there was some local rule at the Synagogue preventing it or if anyone inside was armed.

This is beyond a simple conversation over the Second Amendment. There won't be any additional gun control and there won't be any weakening of the Constitution. Trump is President and the Court is a majority strict constructionist. So now that we're past the knee-jerk Democratic reaction to shootings that won't help keep anyone safe, let's talk practical solutions.

I can tell you first hand that when Jodi and I are in Mass and I see some of my retired police friends, I'm happy to know that there's a good chance they are carrying a firearm. Some of the best trained public servants who never stop protecting the public are our police officers.

It's clear that in any mass shooting situation, it will take several minutes for law enforcement to arrive. They simply can't be everywhere at all times. And are we going to get to a situation where church doors are kept locked or ID checks and metal detectors at the door? Not gonna happen.

There are several layers of any solution that are going to keep the public safe:

First, let's ask for former cops and military veterans to volunteer as legal deputies. Licensed and trained to carry a firearm and use it to protect innocent life. Deputies could go through similar police tactical and firearms training and be assigned to various soft targets on a rotating basis.There would be virtually no cost to the taxpayers and we have these honorable and capable citizens among us every day.

The second solution is to use social media as a way of identifying potential threats. People who are unhinged and make references to violence and extreme hatred could easily be flagged with an algorithm. If Google can send specific ads to me from email/social media traffic, they could certainly work with law enforcement to identify strange and potentially threatening behavior.

The point is someone is already looking through your posts to sell you products. How about use that technology to help keep us safe?

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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