Sheriff Mike Lewis To Encourage Deputies & Citizens To Arm Themselves At Church

This week, I’ve been prompted to meet with local church leaders in an effort to better protect our congregations and our communities from future attacks. We’ve only just begun. In the weeks ahead, the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office will be hosting a comprehensive training session for all our regional churches. We wish to open this training session to our business communities as well. A date and time will be announced in the near future.

We have a duty and responsibility to protect our greatest assets; our people. Our goal is to provide instruction on how to respond in the event of a mass shooting in your church or your business. Do you have a plan? Do you have an SOP in place. We want to identify key people within our churches who we can provide assistance in this area.

While I’ve always advocated for off-duty deputies and police officers to be suitably armed, many choose not to carry off-duty because it is a tremendous responsibility to carry an off-duty weapon every day. I realize that first-hand.

However, from this day forward, every off-duty cop should be ARMED at all times. And, that includes church service on Sunday morning. My heart is heavy just thinking about carrying my gun in church. But, from this day forward I will be armed, and I won’t hesitate to protect those around me.

For those men and women with Maryland concealed carry permits, if you’re authorized to carry it, carry it! Don’t become a statistic. Protect yourselves!!! Be vigilant! Maintain situational awareness. Your LIFE and the LIVES of your loved ones depend on it.