Church sign warns: ‘This is not a gun-free zone — we are heavily armed’ and will use ‘deadly force’
By Dave Urbanski
The Blaze
November 17th. 2017
The sign that greets visitors of River at Tampa Bay Church warns anyone with plans to harm those inside: Members of the congregation are armed — and they will use "deadly force" if necessary. (Image source: Instagram)
The sign that greets visitors of River at Tampa Bay Church warns anyone with plans to harm those inside: Members of the congregation are armed — and they will use “deadly force” if necessary. The sign — which well-known charismatic senior pastor Rodney Howard-Browne noted is on every door at the Florida church — has been up for about a year, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
But it got greater attention when Browne posted an image of the sign on his Instagram page following the deadly Texas church shooting that took 26 lives.
“It is a deterrent,” associate pastor Allen Hawes told the paper. “Look at what is going on. In the past two months, look at what happened in Texas. Look at what happened in Las Vegas. Because we are a church that is on television, we are very involved in the community. We want people to know that this is a safe zone.”